To answer this question, you have to go back to the World T20 2022.
We lost two games at the MCG. The match against India and the Final. The reason why we lose that match was because of the nature of MCG. Being a big ground, you cant score runs at MCG by hitting boundaries, you win there by taking doubles and even tripples. Rotation of strike matters. Iftikhar played well because of this. Shan Masood played a great innings in the final and was the only guy that was scoring runs. Why? Because he knew that at the MCG you need to rotate strike, you cant get away with hitting boundaries there.
Pakistans batting collapsed at the MCG in the final and England won the game easily. Had Pakistan rotated the strike, and they had the players to do so, they would had won. Pakistan needed a proper coach and a stats guy to tell this to them.
Azam Khans weight is an issue. A very big issue. International t20 matches are not played on small boundaries. Proper boundaries are there and you need to have a plan b. The reason why Asif Ali has failed at international level is because Asif Ali can only hit, he cant rotate strike. If 5 were needed off 10, Asif can only hit it and not rotate strike for it.
Azam Khan cant rotate strike, the ball being hit at the fielder at the boundary rope and you see Azam taking a single. He cant run for a second run back. He is always going to be slow. He cant rotate strike and a player who cant rotate strike is not good enough for international cricket. Shahid Afrid and Asif Ali are examples.
Than there is the 2nd issue, due to his weight, he cant play pace bowling on a proper wicket. A proper wicket is where the bounce is high. So take him to South Africa or Asutralia or New Zealand, he will struggle. Even in some wicket wickets of Pakistan, like at Multan, where Ihsanullah was bowling, the guy was fearing him. This is why today Quetta tried to bowl short to him, his weakness is out and known. This issue could be associated with his weight, as his timing gets abit slow when facing quick bowling on a fast wicket. In domestic t20 you can get away as there is only one bowler that might trouble you, in interantional cricket, the teams are playing their best 3-4 pacers of the country.
Third issue is where is he gonna field? Rizwan is the best keeper ever produced by Pakistan and there is no way he will be dropped as a keeper. Weak fielders are often placed at thrid man, but in t20 cricket, third man is as important as point because t20 batsmen will try to hit short balls towards thirdman, and at thirdman you need fitness to move around when the ball is coming towards you. It doesnt come at one spot. He is very slow on the field aswell.
His shot hitting abilities are not doubted. He has a great stroke maker and as proven today that his shot hitting abilities are good enough. Infact he proved his worth the day he smacked Shahid Afridi for sixes and showed Afridi his days were over.
He can be selected for international cricket, but he cannot be played on every ground or wicket. He is ideal for Sharjah, but he is just as bad for Dubai. There would be alot of issues fitting him in and than dropping him. If he performs at SHarjah and than gets dropped for Dubai, media would go crazy and put pressure.
So yes, his weight is an issue. And all these issues discussed above would be sorted if he loss weight. Cricket is an athletes sport not a game. Afridi was spot on that if he doesnt perform, the first thing that people will blame him for is his fitness. If he doesnt want his fitness to become an excuse for dropping him than he needs to slim up.
However if Azam thinks that his weight gives him strength, than good enough. He can become a freelance cricketer and earn a good career and more money than our international players
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