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"Once Azam Khan plays in PSL, I don't think anybody will question his selection" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

Seriously how hard is it to lose weight specially when you are an athlete?

If he consumes just 1400 calories a day for 2 months, he will get rid of half of his weight.

from what ive seen some people just gain weight quicker

but as an athlete you should rise above it.

Hi is worse than Inzi
 
I'm more surprised at how Moin Khan, an international cricketer, allowed his son, who's presumably interested in a cricketing career, to gain so much weight. In a desi context (where parents pretty much run their kids' lives), what kind of actual parental support is Moin offering? Regardless of talent, just getting him selected via friends and family networks isn't enough.

That second pic of the kid, the one in which's he's presumably keeping, is an example of how being overweight makes you look older. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone had told me he was in his mid thirties.
 
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incidentally, I can't find any stats on the guy- FC, List A etc. Does anyone have any stats on Azam beyond a few current and ex cricketer's testimonials?
 
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it’s been almost 8 years or more on this forum and the kind of negativity I have seen on this forum from Pakistani fans towards their players is unparalleled and unmatched. I sometimes find it hard to believe that some of the posters out there are actually Pakistani fans.
As usual , it’s no different even this time around and the same people here are bashing the poor kid left , right and center and may be rightly so however I think we should give poor kid some time before we jump the gun.
Azam khans fitness was already known to everyone however people were doubting his ability with the bat without even seen him bat once and accusing the kid to have gotten into the team because of his father and not on his ability and I don’t blame people here as I also was under the same impression however after having seen him bat yesterday and the way he was timing his shots tells me that the guy has got some exceptional hitting ability and he’s exactly the kind of player we need in our limited overs team down the order provided he works on his fitness.
He can develop into something very special if he manages to get his fitness sorted and I m sure if he has a start good start to his PSL career , he would surely work more on his fitness.
 
it’s been almost 8 years or more on this forum and the kind of negativity I have seen on this forum from Pakistani fans towards their players is unparalleled and unmatched. I sometimes find it hard to believe that some of the posters out there are actually Pakistani fans.
As usual , it’s no different even this time around and the same people here are bashing the poor kid left , right and center and may be rightly so however I think we should give poor kid some time before we jump the gun.
Azam khans fitness was already known to everyone however people were doubting his ability with the bat without even seen him bat once and accusing the kid to have gotten into the team because of his father and not on his ability and I don’t blame people here as I also was under the same impression however after having seen him bat yesterday and the way he was timing his shots tells me that the guy has got some exceptional hitting ability and he’s exactly the kind of player we need in our limited overs team down the order provided he works on his fitness.
He can develop into something very special if he manages to get his fitness sorted and I m sure if he has a start good start to his PSL career , he would surely work more on his fitness.

good post
+remember idon t think apart shadab a player have selected in this pk team and he is a fit. fit player like fawad is out of the team and we r here taking about this kid who i saw batter hitting ability against spin than our most of player
 
it’s been almost 8 years or more on this forum and the kind of negativity I have seen on this forum from Pakistani fans towards their players is unparalleled and unmatched. I sometimes find it hard to believe that some of the posters out there are actually Pakistani fans.
As usual , it’s no different even this time around and the same people here are bashing the poor kid left , right and center and may be rightly so however I think we should give poor kid some time before we jump the gun.
Azam khans fitness was already known to everyone however people were doubting his ability with the bat without even seen him bat once and accusing the kid to have gotten into the team because of his father and not on his ability and I don’t blame people here as I also was under the same impression however after having seen him bat yesterday and the way he was timing his shots tells me that the guy has got some exceptional hitting ability and he’s exactly the kind of player we need in our limited overs team down the order provided he works on his fitness.
He can develop into something very special if he manages to get his fitness sorted and I m sure if he has a start good start to his PSL career , he would surely work more on his fitness.

Very good post
 
I'm more surprised at how Moin Khan, an international cricketer, allowed his son, who's presumably interested in a cricketing career, to gain so much weight. In a desi context (where parents pretty much run their kids' lives), what kind of actual parental support is Moin offering? Regardless of talent, just getting him selected via friends and family networks isn't enough.

That second pic of the kid, the one in which's he's presumably keeping, is an example of how being overweight makes you look older. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone had told me he was in his mid thirties.

I once saw a program where they hung a day out with Moin and there he mentioned how he loved food and ate nihari/biryani almost every day which shows that they do not really care about diet.

Also when Moin was manager he regularly took Pak players out on biryani treats (ask Mohammad Akram). Can it get any worse for an international team? So it does not surprise me that Moin never lectured his kid.
 
sorry but he is obese, therefore unfit to play cricket. End of. This is not a joke. He needs to lose wait if he wants a career. Flintoff was a bit chubby but this guy is obese. This is a stupid attitude towards weight and health. This is not healthy, he is fat.
 
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sorry but he is obese, therefore unfit to play cricket. End of. This is not a joke. He needs to lose wait if he wants a career. Flintoff was a bit chubby but this guy is obese. This is a stupid attitude towards weight and health. This is not healthy, he is fat.

we all know he’s chubby and needs to lose weight , a lot of it infact however the guy seems to have it in his batting to succeed at least in the shortest format of the game however as usual we are dismissing him even before giving him a chance to show cause his ability and I find that intriguing..
 
we all know he’s chubby and needs to lose weight , a lot of it infact however the guy seems to have it in his batting to succeed at least in the shortest format of the game however as usual we are dismissing him even before giving him a chance to show cause his ability and I find that intriguing..

He's not chubby..he's fat and overweight. This is not the standard we want youngsters to aspire to. Its a disgrace he is even allowed to wear a cricket shirt..
 
good post
+remember idon t think apart shadab a player have selected in this pk team and he is a fit. fit player like fawad is out of the team and we r here taking about this kid who i saw batter hitting ability against spin than our most of player

I disagree with it.

Pakistan's national players might not be rhe epitome of fitness but they arent Morbidly obese.

This kid can suffer a stroke if he runs too hard on the ground, such is his pathetic shape.

Forget cricket, he should try to lose weight for his own health reasons and safety.

Its a very poor attitude by everyone who say that "IF he sorts his fitness out" he will be great. Well guess what, PSL and national team isnt khairaati team which should be used a place where you sort your fitness out.

Fitness is YOUR personal responsibility. Not of NCA , not of your coaches' , just yours.
 
He's not chubby..he's fat and overweight. This is not the standard we want youngsters to aspire to. Its a disgrace he is even allowed to wear a cricket shirt..
No one denying he’s over weight to be playing cricket if u take only fitness into account however it’s not guaranteed that a fit player would always succeed at international level with little or no batting or bowling talent. There indeed is no susbstitute to fitness however fitness alone won’t guarantee you success.
 
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Looks like a decent batsman, can hit some boundaries, can rotate strike. If he works on his fitness, maybe he'll become a good player.
 
It's easier to gain weight, but extremely difficult to get rid of it. Losing drastic weight often causes lack of power, stamina and metabolic disorder. Besides, kid isn't healthy or "just" over weight; he is more than obese. Roughly, they say 20-25% higher than optimum weight for an age & height is obese, a condition when over weight should have a negative impact on normal life. For players it should be even lower, because of the extra stress on heart & lungs at peak work load.

Apart from genetic/hormone disorder (which probably isn't the case here), only reason for such weight is unbalanced diet and lower calorie burn than required (to match the intake). The worst type of food, in such case is sugar (worse than red meat actually - at higher intake level, it directly converts into fat & Cholesterol); I believe from very younger age this kid used to have lots of sugar. It won't be easy for him to trim down - liposuction can be a solution, but that's not suggested for players. Besides, liposuction is sort of cosmetic surgery - temporary solution, unless one changes diet habit and work ethics (any doctor here can explain better).

More than feeling pity, I am actually feeling sorry for the kid - expected better grooming from parents, one of whom happens to be a pro sportsman at highest level for most part of 2 decades.
 
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No one denying he’s over weight to be playing cricket if u take only fitness into account however it’s not guaranteed that a fit player would always succeed at international level with little or no batting or bowling talent. There indeed is no susbstitute to fitness however fitness alone won’t guarantee you success.

fitness alone wont guarantee success but unfitness will guarantee failure. If he's this obese now how do you think his knees will take the rigours of int cricket? He wont last a match. Look at Haris sohail, he is no where near as obese as this guy yet has perennial weight issues and sharjeel is another.

our international team is not a joke and our premier domestic t20 league should also not be a joke. This selection is a big joke. Moin khan should be reprimanded and disciplined for this move..its a disgrace..
 
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/16oj2cDMcqs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>.

He looks pretty quick for a fat man. I thought he would run like Inzamam.

Its clear Azam is mobile just like Moin Khan. Probably inherited the fat gene from Mom's side.
 
He looks pretty quick for a fat man. I thought he would run like Inzamam.

Its clear Azam is mobile just like Moin Khan. Probably inherited the fat gene from Mom's side.

this guy would never get into a team in england or India unless it was a local fun league..if he ever wears a pakistan shirt he'll be laughed at. Wait till the PSL commentators have a go..
 
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/16oj2cDMcqs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>.

for a big man he is pretty quick runner, strange
 
Certainly hits the ball hard. Bats so like his dad and his running as mentioned by a few others on here is surprising. You wouldn't expect someone like him to be good between the wickets.

Having said that, needs to lose weight but I wouldn't want him to lose it all cause it will affect his batting.
 
fitness alone wont guarantee success but unfitness will guarantee failure. If he's this obese now how do you think his knees will take the rigours of int cricket? He wont last a match. Look at Haris sohail, he is no where near as obese as this guy yet has perennial weight issues and sharjeel is another.

our international team is not a joke and our premier domestic t20 league should also not be a joke. This selection is a big joke. Moin khan should be reprimanded and disciplined for this move..its a disgrace..

So do u mean all our stars in the past who had fitness issues through out their careers were all failures ...
 
So do u mean all our stars in the past who had fitness issues through out their careers were all failures ...

None of our unfit stars (not that there were that many) were anywhere near the level of obesity of this guy. In no self respecting and professional country's sports outfits would he be considered a sportsman unless he was aiming to be a sumo wrestler of course. Stop arguing just for the sake of it.
 
None of our unfit stars (not that there were that many) were anywhere near the level of obesity of this guy. In no self respecting and professional country's sports outfits would he be considered a sportsman unless he was aiming to be a sumo wrestler of course. Stop arguing just for the sake of it.

Not for even once hv i disagreed with you on his fitness issues , I was talking about the guys batting ability which to me seems to be tailor made for t20s and that’s why he has been picked up by the owners of QG whether his father has any role in that or not is irrelevant to me coz if the guy is able to perform in this years psl it should zip up many a mouths..
 
Not for even once hv i disagreed with you on his fitness issues , I was talking about the guys batting ability which to me seems to be tailor made for t20s and that’s why he has been picked up by the owners of QG whether his father has any role in that or not is irrelevant to me coz if the guy is able to perform in this years psl it should zip up many a mouths..

His fathers role is very relevant as no one would have looked at him twice if he wasn't the son of Moin Khan, especially with his fitness. Its not about zipping mouths as you seem to think but being chosen through a system and on performances.
 
The fitter you are the better chances you have to perform..

And Azam Khan is not fit at all. He is morbidly obese. National team or a PSL team is not a place where you work on your fitness. You shouldnt be in those teams if you are obese. Fitness is your personal problem and responsibility as an athlete.

Inzi wasnt obese ever, especially when he started. he was selected when he was slim.

Secondly the fitness levels have changed for the better now. Cant compare that era with today.

Having said that, this Azam Khan has potential in batting. He has a good hitting technique but he needs to lose at least 25 kilos while retaining and building muscle.
 
His fathers role is very relevant as no one would have looked at him twice if he wasn't the son of Moin Khan, especially with his fitness. Its not about zipping mouths as you seem to think but being chosen through a system and on performances.

I just couldn’t agree with you more on this however talking about merit and coming through a system are not Pakistani things as we all know.

I just want the kid to perform to his optimum and at the same time work on his fitness first and foremost ..

Peace!!!!
 
And Azam Khan is not fit at all. He is morbidly obese. National team or a PSL team is not a place where you work on your fitness. You shouldnt be in those teams if you are obese. Fitness is your personal problem and responsibility as an athlete.

Inzi wasnt obese ever, especially when he started. he was selected when he was slim.

Secondly the fitness levels have changed for the better now. Cant compare that era with today.

Having said that, this Azam Khan has potential in batting. He has a good hitting technique but he needs to lose at least 25 kilos while retaining and building muscle.


Can he last a t20 game is yet to be seen .. let’s see how it pans out for him in the coming days .. till then I would keep my faith in him ..
 
So do u mean all our stars in the past who had fitness issues through out their careers were all failures ...

cricket isn't played in the past...in the modern game if your fat and obese you'll last about a session at best!! name me a single player who was obese..and dont say Inzi..he wasnt obese..he was pretty fit and could last a long time in a test match.,..he was also a good slip fielder and had a great arm..

AZAM khan is a fat overweight obese "player" who needs to be sent home to lose weight!!
 
PCB needs to have zero-tolerance policy when it comes to fitness. It is the only way forward. It does not matter how good you are. If you do not meet the fitness threshold, you do not play. period.

This is the only way Pakistan will come to terms with modern fitness standards. We have improved at the national level because of Mickey and also Waqar, but as long as we are lax at the domestic level, it will not make a difference.

Last year, it was ridiculous to see Umar captaining Punjab a few days after getting kicked out of the Champions Trophy on fitness grounds. If you are not fit enough for international cricket, how are you fit enough for domestic cricket?

Azam might be a great talent, but his fitness is not acceptable. He should not be selected under PCB's jurisdiction in any level unless he improves his fitness.

Another problem for the PCB is players getting into their old habits during off-seasons. That is why clear fitness benchmarks need to be established.

Every professional cricketer in Pakistan should be explicitly made aware of the specific fitness requirements that they have to maintain in order to be in contention for selection, i.e. weight, body fat percentage, lean body mass (muscle mass percentage) etc.

If this is implemented with no exceptions made, the onus would be on the players to regulate their fitness during off-season. At the moment, they seem content loading up on calories during off-seasons and then burning it off during the seasons.

As far as diet is concerned, it is very complicated to standardize because our bodies are different and they react differently. If certain players can maintain themselves within the fitness thresholds on desi diet, it is their call. However, everyone can achieve a similar fitness level, but the path to attaining that fitness will differ. Unless of course you have a medical condition, in which case you should not be playing cricket in the first place.

It sounds harsh but there are many jobs in the world which you cannot do unless you meet certain physical standards. It is not discrimination; it is being fit for the job.

Azam is too obese for a young boy who plays professional cricket. I do not think it is a simple matter of him being inconsiderate towards his fitness. I feel he is Leptin-resistant - in layman terms, leptin is the hormone that controls your appetite.

When you eat food and you know that you should not be eating more, it is leptin sending signals to your brain that it is time to stop eating. Leptin-resistant people are generally unaware of the fact that they are over-eating, and often eat to the point where they will not stop unless they throw up.

Leptin-resistance can be reversed with a controlled diet and medications, but it is more complicated than being overweight simply because you like to eat a lot and are too lazy. I think the PCB needs to take him under its wing and find out what they real reason for his obesity is. Moin clearly does not know what he is doing.
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] maybe you can educate some of our posters above about the problems Azam will have if he continues to play. Im no doctor but everybody can see this is detrimental.

so my question to you [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] is if he continues down this path (from a purely medical point of view) can you highlight some of the issues he will have?

perhaps then some posters above will understand why fitness is so important..
 
wow damn. i remember seeing him once at a match presentation ceremony in india

he is unrecognisable man!

that must be the biggest weight change ive seen

I have never seen anything like that before, that was completely awesome.

If Azam Khan can do even 50 percent of what Anant has achieved it would be a big achievement.

I am not sure how comfortable would Azam Khan be sharing the same dressing room as Pietersen, Shane Watson and even John Hastings who are much fitter than him even though they are south of 30 years.
 
Shame on Quetta for selecting such an unfit player. This is the difference between Pakistan and other countries.
 
I have a feeling this kid will surprise us in a good way. Doesn't changes the fact that he has been a product of nepotism or that he needs to get fit, but given where he is at that will be a long process and simply starving him wont help.
 
Sifarish zindabad.

This guy has only been picked because he is Moin Khan's son, the same Moin Khan who has 'served' Najam Sethi.

What a sad state of affairs.
 
wow damn. i remember seeing him once at a match presentation ceremony in india

he is unrecognisable man!

that must be the biggest weight change ive seen

Well he is the son of a billionaire and privy to the best there is to offer, nutritionists, personal trainers, doctors etc. If a normal person would have lost that much weight just the amount of excess skin would have made him look like Droopy.

A female friend of my wife went through a liposuction procedure recently, getting rid of just 21 kgs of fat and she had to go through all kinds of skin lifts, breast augmentation procedures etc.
 
Sifarish zindabad.

This guy has only been picked because he is Moin Khan's son, the same Moin Khan who has 'served' Najam Sethi.

What a sad state of affairs.

I'm just waiting for a tweet from Sethi in the next couple of days of promising to host the CT and WC if something happens with the India deal.
 
Sad to see better cricketers like Aslam, Mukhtar, Fawad, etc have not played PSL yet this kid is in the squad due to nepotism.
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] maybe you can educate some of our posters above about the problems Azam will have if he continues to play. Im no doctor but everybody can see this is detrimental.

so my question to you [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] is if he continues down this path (from a purely medical point of view) can you highlight some of the issues he will have?

perhaps then some posters above will understand why fitness is so important..

You do not need to be a medical practitioner to understand the complications he can have in the future. The most obvious one is that he can develop heart problems. In addition, he can develop type 2 diabetes, gall bladder problems, osteoarthritis, gout etc. etc.

In short, an obese individual is a ticking time bomb. And here, we are talking about an obese individual who is going to engage in a physical activity that puts a strain on his heart but does little to improve his health. He really needs to stop playing and lose 20-25 kilos. If he has some underlying problem as I stated above, then he will be better off not playing at all in the first place.
 
^^ While he's definitely in danger from heart and diabetes conditions, he could first end up severely damaging his joints, ligaments and/ or muscles.

I mean people are commending him for his quick running between the wickets, but I wonder how being overweight affects those joints and ligaments when he does it again and again, as compared to people who are at their optimum weights.
 
Plus, as he gets to higher levels of cricket where they pick on weaknesses quickly, he'll be targeted - they'll throw the ball to his end all the time, they'll test his fitness by forcing him to run more. Won't be pleasant.
 
I wonder what some of the guys who have missed out on PSL selection must be thinking when they see this guy taking part in the tournament.
 
I wonder what some of the guys who have missed out on PSL selection must be thinking when they see this guy taking part in the tournament.

must be soul destroying to see this overweight kid overtake you especially if your toiling away in domestics and have been scoring runs,..
 
Azam Khan - Performance Watch Thread

Just saw this video clip of Azam Khan's batting, and I can tell you he looks impressive. He looks so composed at the crease, playing spin so well, touch of Inzamam in him, and boy, he is a powerful striker of the ball. He should play this game. Quetta mustn't waste him.

 
You do not need to be a medical practitioner to understand the complications he can have in the future. The most obvious one is that he can develop heart problems. In addition, he can develop type 2 diabetes, gall bladder problems, osteoarthritis, gout etc. etc.

In short, an obese individual is a ticking time bomb. And here, we are talking about an obese individual who is going to engage in a physical activity that puts a strain on his heart but does little to improve his health. He really needs to stop playing and lose 20-25 kilos. If he has some underlying problem as I stated above, then he will be better off not playing at all in the first place.

His knees and back will give out before some of this stuff
 
Has anyone made an easier USD 25k than Azam Khan in history of Pakistan cricket?

Was watching the LQvQG match and saw Azam Khan celebrating a wicket in the dugout with Viv Richard... I then remembered why he is there considering he looks anything but a professional cricketer.

So has anyone made an easier US25k (I believe that's his contract - Please check) in Pakistani cricket history?

I wonder what guys like Viv, KP, Watson etc think of him. It's so obviously nepotism
 
That just about meets his weekly food budget....
 
Well he is more qualified to be in the QG's squad than Bismillah Khan. Not to forget all the haters would be lining up for his autograph "once" he plays. QG are keeping their weapon of mass sixes hidden for the later part of the tournament.
 
Was watching the LQvQG match and saw Azam Khan celebrating a wicket in the dugout with Viv Richard... I then remembered why he is there considering he looks anything but a professional cricketer.

So has anyone made an easier US25k (I believe that's his contract - Please check) in Pakistani cricket history?

I wonder what guys like Viv, KP, Watson etc think of him. It's so obviously nepotism

I had read somewhere that you don't get the amount until and unless you play games. Is it true?
 
Well he is more qualified to be in the QG's squad than Bismillah Khan. Not to forget all the haters would be lining up for his autograph "once" he plays. QG are keeping their weapon of mass sixes hidden for the later part of the tournament.

Bismillah Khan was the only player who is actually from Baluchistan and make the team on merit. But the Sarfraz mafia would not let him in the team :facepalm:
 
This lad has done some great high-fives with Viv Richards - he looks a great talent at doing that.
 
tbh Sarfraz himself had his career revived through nepotism so it's only fair he pays it back to Moeen and all the karachi lobby.;-)
 
Well he is more qualified to be in the QG's squad than Bismillah Khan. Not to forget all the haters would be lining up for his autograph "once" he plays. QG are keeping their weapon of mass sixes hidden for the later part of the tournament.

Yeah they’re reserving him for the play offs when all the international players will go home and they’ll only have him to select.
 
i think QG brought him in as a boogeyman, jo acha perform nahin karay ga will be his lunch... :ashwin
 
Saad and Saud would taste quite salty.

more like extremely bitter; if I was Saad I would contact Lahore to be included in their squad; Lahore need 1 good middle over batsman to become very good and Saad can be that batsman
 
Was watching the LQvQG match and saw Azam Khan celebrating a wicket in the dugout with Viv Richard... I then remembered why he is there considering he looks anything but a professional cricketer.

So has anyone made an easier US25k (I believe that's his contract - Please check) in Pakistani cricket history?

I wonder what guys like Viv, KP, Watson etc think of him. It's so obviously nepotism

Wow that's a lot of money and you get to spen time with legends like Viv.
 
Azam was picked as supplementary and I don't think he gets paid until he plays? Not sure but Nadeem Omar sounds like a horrible businessman if he's paying him $25k. QG should run out of money by the end of this season if that's true.
 
Sarfraz knows what he is saying - indeed we’ll see Azam playing one day. Kid is officially 19 - so, he can make next 4 PSLs as “emerging” & at one point we should watch him playing.
 
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