Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan agrees that breaking the successful opening pair of him and Babar Azam in the T20I cricket has damaged Pakistan.
The Men in Green have lost four T20Is against New Zealand with one match left in the five-match series.
The team management, viewing it as the T20 World Cup year, has decided to try new combinations. One change they made was the break the pair of Rizwan and Babar by putting Saim Ayub as the opener while Babar is batting at three.
"Yes, you can say, it has hurt Pakistan," Rizwan responded to the question in a press conference after the fourth T20I.
"There will be many things where damage will be seen. Here I'll credit Babar who showed a big heart and agreed with management for the change.
"The people of Pakistan have pointed out this but I believe that the management is trying to take out what is best leading up to the World Cup.”
Babar and Rizwan have together scored 2,830 runs while batting in 60 innings while the second best is 1,904, scored by Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling.
Meanwhile, he backed his partner Saim despite no big knock by the 21-year-old in the series.
"We all are waiting for one big knock but he has something different. I think at the international level, players need some time," he added.
Remember, New Zealand beat Pakistan in the fourth T20I by seven wickets on Friday in Christchurch to have a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Pakistan were ahead in the fourth T20I after New Zealand had slipped to 20-3 in the third over of the run-chase but Phillips and Mitchell stitched a match-winning partnership of 139 runs in 93 balls to get their side over the line with 11 balls to spare.
Mitchell scored 72 runs in 44 balls, meanwhile, Phillips notched up 70 in 52.
All three wickets to fall in New Zealand's inning were claimed by Shaheen.
Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan scored an unbeaten 90 runs as Pakistan set New Zealand a target of 159 runs in the fourth T20I of the series.
Rizwan scored 90 runs in 63 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes.
Mohammad Nawaz scored a quick-fire 21 runs in nine balls, which included three consecutive sixes off pacer Adam Milne in the penultimate over of the innings.
Babar Azam scored 19 runs in 11 balls and added 51 runs in 31 balls for the second wicket with Rizwan.
Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry claimed two wickets each for the home side.
This is Pakistan's first series under new T20 captain Shaheen Afridi ahead of this year's 20-overs World Cup in June.
New Zealand won the first T20I by 46 runs, while they clinched the second by a margin of 21 runs.
The last match of the series is also scheduled in Christchurch on Sunday.