I just wonder if this lad would be getting these opportunities if he wasn't Moin Khan's son and his dad wasn't the head coach.
Definitely wouldn’t be getting opportunities, but more based on how the system is designed rather than his lack of talent. He’s very good and I believe he deserves the opportunities, but if he wasn’t Moin Khan’s son, he would:
— be considered too big/fat
— be branded a tulla baaz with no defensive technique
— not be given the opportunity to play as keeper given his size, diminishing his utility to any team
— be asked to play years of second tier or club cricket, and end up being wasted
— not have access to top class facilities and trainers which allows him to reduce his weight
— not have a savvy dad to teach him about cricket
That’s because the system (and many systems around the world at that, but especially the Pakistani system) just isn’t conducive to complete outsiders. Even the cricketers we don’t acknowledge as products of nepotism have benefited from going to better known clubs — their coaches and agents are on the phone with PSL and domestic teams all the time buying lunch and dinner for the head coaches.
Ali Tareen said this was happening in the Multan Sultans dressing room even this year, and he had to call some of his coaches/analysts out on being taken out to dinner by x players’ agent.
So obviously, Azam benefited. But a lot more people benefit too that we don’t talk about or don’t know about. Even if you’re not the benefit of nepotism, you might be benefiting from a false age on your birth certificate - I would argue that compared to that, Azam has done the lesser crime of being born to a cricketer father.
I still have some gripes with him, but he is a good striker of the ball and has some natural talent that he has yet to access.
