[VIDEOS] "Foreign coaches never make me feel that I am lacking in any skills, but that is not how I feel when I play for the Pakistan team": Azam Khan

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Is this the end of his international ambitions?

Has Azam Khan now shot himself in the foot with these comments on Pakistan team management/Coaches?

Speaking in an interview

"I’ve always believed that when I play league cricket, I get a full opportunity because they know I can win games for them. That’s why they invite me. However, if you’re putting doubts in my mind that I don’t play well, then it’s okay, I will then look for my path.

In the last four years, I have made a comeback three times and I have never played a full series. This makes me a little sad. I believe they should either give me a chance to play a full series and then drop me, or not leave me hanging in the middle. This is my only regret.

I play all my cricket with a very clear mind. When someone puts doubts in it, I get a little frustrated. When I play with foreign coaches, they never make me feel like I am lacking. But when I play for the Pakistan team, I feel like there is really something lacking in me.

However, when I look at my batting, I feel like I am no less than any batter."
 
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But why is he complaining? He has not shown anything at all in international cricket to show that he deserves more chances.

He has had more chances than what he deserves and his highest score is 10.

International cricket is not kindergarten where people will hold your hand and show you how to walk. You either sink or swim.

No excuse for you, especially being the son of a well known international cricketer. You would have known the pressure and expectations from a young age.
 
Those foreign coaches are the coach of a domestic team not international team.

Your fitness is an issue, and while you can get leverage in domestic cricket of foreign leagues, you can't get the same leverage when representing in international cricket.

Whole series? Bro cricketers don't get more than 4 matches to prove themselves at international cricket because international matches are very limited.

He doesn't want to reduce his weight, now he wants the team management to bend over for him? Doesn't work that way
 
Those foreign coaches are the coach of a domestic team not international team.

Your fitness is an issue, and while you can get leverage in domestic cricket of foreign leagues, you can't get the same leverage when representing in international cricket.

Whole series? Bro cricketers don't get more than 4 matches to prove themselves at international cricket because international matches are very limited.

He doesn't want to reduce his weight, now he wants the team management to bend over for him? Doesn't work that way
Absolutely correct. He is also highly delusional by thinking he can win matches single handedly, etc. He is the type of batsman that can score a 50 of 20 balls every 15 innings.
 
Not played this innings smartly.

Could hurt him.
 
It will definitely not going down well with Wahab who is famous for throwing players with attitude under the bus.
 
He played 8 T20I innings, batted 7 times , highest score of 10 and batting average of 4.83
Does he deserve more matches?
 
May be he realised that he is not good enough for Pak side and is now looking to make future else where , may be USA?
 
He claims he's not been given enough chances.
How many does he want? A 100 more game to get his average above 4? A player like him should never be picked with his pathetic attitude and fitness and to top it off he's a rubbish bat too.
 
Absolutely correct. He is also highly delusional by thinking he can win matches single handedly, etc. He is the type of batsman that can score a 50 of 20 balls every 15 innings.
He won't score that in international cricket.
 
This is the type of guy if you say to him you are fat he will nahi yaar I'm not fat

This type of guy if he will eat a whole buffet at the end of the meal he will say I didn't eat anything, I dont eat much.
 
if that's the attitude then PCB should deny him NOC

Playing for Pakistan is an honour not a right.
He will just retire. Or not accept the next central contract

Things are way more complicated these days
 
His future only is bright when he plays leagues and franchises. He will never be representing Pakistan again with this kind of attitude. I guess he likes to bash some mediocre club-level bowlers in leagues so he can do hooo-haaah.
2nd class leagues, clubs, franchises etc I dont see him finding success in county, domestic English tournaments, Big Bash etc.. Perhaps he's happy with that level, who are we to judge.
 
Ok. Fair enough.

Who’s batting at 4,5,6,7 and 8 for you? In T20s?
I would go for players like Mo Haris and Tayyab Tahir. Also I feel Fakhar and Saim should open with Rizwan batting at 4 or 5. Ij any case a player like Azam should never play for Pak again.
 
Just compare his attitude to someone like an Aamer Jamal.

One is a son of an international cricketer who expects to be spoon fed, whilst the other has worked odd jobs and puts in every inch of his body whilst playing for Pakistan.

Not hard to guess who has performed in international cricket.
 
He's earning more than half a million USD by playing 3-4 leagues a year.He doesnt really care if he doesnt get picked for the national team tbh.Its less work for way more money.Smart guy.
 
I agree with him that he needs to be given complete series. vs New Zealand as well I was initially not in favor of dropping him for the 5 matches as I believe every player should be given a full chance. So both the player and the team knows if the player is worth investing time in or not.

That being said. It doesn't look good that he has absolutely nothing to show in terms of his performances in international cricket even after playing 8 matches and his fitness is an issue in International Cricket.
 
He’s right. Azam hasn’t been given a run. Even Saim and Haris have been treated better. Problem is if he doesn’t perform even one game, people call out his fitness. It’s way too much pressure for someone to succeed. Especially at a position where failure rate is high.

Of course if he actually lost weight, he would hyped up just like Haris and Saim. I think talent wise he’s better than at least Haris.

I think PCB is mixed on Azam. Either you accept his fitness and treat him like other youngsters and give him a run. Or you don’t pick him at all until he’s lost weight if that ever happens. What we want is Azam to perform immediately, thus instantly justifying picking him despite the weight. Which just isn’t realistic.
 
He’s right. Azam hasn’t been given a run. Even Saim and Haris have been treated better. Problem is if he doesn’t perform even one game, people call out his fitness. It’s way too much pressure for someone to succeed. Especially at a position where failure rate is high.

Of course if he actually lost weight, he would hyped up just like Haris and Saim. I think talent wise he’s better than at least Haris.

I think PCB is mixed on Azam. Either you accept his fitness and treat him like other youngsters and give him a run. Or you don’t pick him at all until he’s lost weight if that ever happens. What we want is Azam to perform immediately, thus instantly justifying picking him despite the weight. Which just isn’t realistic.
It's not simple as that. He's a one dimensional player and has no other skill apart from being a hit or miss batsman. To accommodate him in the team we have to make do with a mediocre keeper. Cannot use him as a fielder as he's an embarrassment to the nation and a ticking health hazard to himself.

So considering he provides no other redeeming benefits as a player there's additional scrutiny on the batsman. If he keeps failing 70-80% of the time, he becomes a passenger and the team is literally playing with 10 players. The other names you mentioned are capable of running and fielding. Azam struggles to take singles let alone save runs!

Is he that exceptional and consistent a batsman that one can overlook all these shortcomings? NO he's not.

It's not PCB that's mixed, it's Azam Khan the cricketer that's non committal and 'mixed'. He is so unfit that it's not possible for him to play any cricketing format that lasts more than three hours. Azam needs to stop being confused and pick one of the two, a career as a full time international standard cricketer, or the comfortable life of 6000-7000 calories intake daily and look for short term contracts in B-grade leagues.
 
He has already given a complete series against Afghanistan but he couldn't perform well there. He needs to understand that international cricket has different standards and if he wants to stay in international cricket so he has to reduce his weight. Otherwise, he will keep finding such lame excuses after every series.
 
He played 8 T20I innings, batted 7 times , highest score of 10 and batting average of 4.83
Does he deserve more matches?
That really is so poor. You could literally take any domestic batter and stick them in the team and they'd average higher than that! He's an embarrassment of a "professional" cricketer who is only suited to the lowest levels of league cricket.
 
Youngsters should see athletic young cricketers so they can emulate them. This big boy sets a bad example regardless how good he might be.

I only wish they apply the same yardstick to the rest and drop anyone failing this test
 
I don’t understand how it’s impossible for this slob to lose like 15-20 kg just so at the very least he isn’t morbidly obese. He’s been on the scene for like 5 years now, and if he was serious about making it at the international level he would’ve lost the weight.
 
I don't think it's a good excuse for his poor performance with the national side.
 
Stick to playing foreign leagues buddy. Playing for the national flag is a privilege and not an entitlement. There are tons of FIT, willing, more capable players out there.
 
I don’t understand how it’s impossible for this slob to lose like 15-20 kg just so at the very least he isn’t morbidly obese. He’s been on the scene for like 5 years now, and if he was serious about making it at the international level he would’ve lost the weight.

He's at a weight where he should just do it for his well-being let alone cricket.

It's dangerous to be at such a weight and he's only getting away with it because of his age.
 
He’s right. Azam hasn’t been given a run. Even Saim and Haris have been treated better. Problem is if he doesn’t perform even one game, people call out his fitness. It’s way too much pressure for someone to succeed. Especially at a position where failure rate is high.

Of course if he actually lost weight, he would hyped up just like Haris and Saim. I think talent wise he’s better than at least Haris.

I think PCB is mixed on Azam. Either you accept his fitness and treat him like other youngsters and give him a run. Or you don’t pick him at all until he’s lost weight if that ever happens. What we want is Azam to perform immediately, thus instantly justifying picking him despite the weight. Which just isn’t realistic.
I don’t agree here.

Just like an ex-convict looking for work, Azam Khan’s self inflicted circumstances means he does not get the same opportunities as everyone else.

Ultimately he has chosen to be obese.

He is not entitled to be compared to someone who has worked their nuts off to stay in shape.
 
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I don’t agree here.

Just like an ex-convict looking for work, Azam Khan’s self inflicted circumstances means he does not get the same opportunities as everyone else.

Ultimately he has chosen to be obese.

He is not entitled to be compared to someone who has worked their nuts off to stay in shape.
I would keep him out of the squad and not select him due to fitness. Shows an example for others, and hopefully will prevent future talent from wasting it due to fitness. Also just because of his fitness alone, that can contribute to failure. But once he’s in the squad he should be given full chances. It feels like he is simply being set up to fail. Which is a waste of time. We’re clearly mixed in intentions with him, and if he isn’t given the best chances to perform like everyone else, I dunno the point of selecting him in the first place. It’s a bit like the fixer argument (though they are worse). They really shouldn’t be selected in the squad at all. But if they are, you might as well use them, give them a fair chance. Otherwise no point of picking them in the first place.
 
8 T20 games are not enough for people to judge his performance and justification of selection. Average of 4.8 with a 90 strike rate. This shows either he is not good enough or he himself was not putting effort into making his record better.

He is a beast in domestic and franchise cricket but he is not good enough for the internationals. Putting the blame on coaches will not work buddy. He has to work hard if he wants a chance.
 
8 T20 games are not enough for people to judge his performance and justification of selection.
One needs zero games to understand that he's physically incapable of running, jumping, diving etc.... especially to the standards required for International cricket. In B grade leagues it's fine, but in Internationals how is he supposed to take a quick single against an inner ring of Australian or Kiwi fielders, let alone run two.
 
I am tired of hearing these words from Pak players. Coach, captain, management, confidence, Inshallah, Mashallah
 
2nd class leagues, clubs, franchises etc I dont see him finding success in county, domestic English tournaments, Big Bash etc.. Perhaps he's happy with that level, who are we to judge.
Do you think T20 league performances will be taken seriously in future like football? I think cricket pandits don't really rate T20 league performances, it's more like easy paycheck. Shoaib Malik is a legend of sorts in leagues while his international career is mediocre at best.
 
I don’t agree here.

Just like an ex-convict looking for work, Azam Khan’s self inflicted circumstances means he does not get the same opportunities as everyone else.

Ultimately he has chosen to be obese.

He is not entitled to be compared to someone who has worked their nuts off to stay in shape.
I don't think we should judge Azam. It's refreshing to hear him speaking his mind confidently. It's better than phony fake patriotism. Guys like Pandya,Rauf say how much representing country means to them but never play test cricket and never miss even a single IPL/PSL match.
 
way how he showing an attitude saying 'whether give me the whole series or don't pick me' makes me feel he is going to another arrogant player like Amir or Imad.
 
Ok. Fair enough.

Who’s batting at 4,5,6,7 and 8 for you? In T20s?
If it were up to you this guy would occupy all those positions. In fairness there are few spaces he doesn’t occupy with that huge frame of his.
 
This statement is more of an arrogant man's word rather than something an honest cricketer would say who is trying to make his way into the team. Azam knows that he will find his way in franchises all over the world so he is saying this kind of stuff. Not good to hear these kinds of statements and not good for him to say such things if if if you want to play for your country honestly.
 
This interview shows a severe lack of intelligence......

Someone suggested he wants out of Pakistan Cricket and that's why he said this... that's surely the dummest excuse there is? Why would you burn your bridges? If you want out then just sit out and play those silly leagues around the world...

So not only is he extremely unfit, hadn't shown any ability on the international stage, but has now demonstrated a severe lack of IQ
 
Azam Khan so far has been a failure in PSL 9. Again gone after an insignificant performance. Made just 1 off 4 against his former side QG. Now who should he blame for his failure today? 🤔
 
Do you think Azam could pass the Osaka run challenge?
 
Misbah ul Haq, yesterday shared his views on a TV show regarding Azam Khan's grievances against the Pakistan team coaches:

"You can never compare league cricket with international cricket. The level of pressure is so different on international level. Also he(Azam Khan) does not get the chance to play many games for team Pakistan while he plays at stretch at league level and thus is able to bring forth great performances there. About his fitness, we never asked him to keep six packs but there is always need of a basic fitness for the game that we expect from him for his proper performances in the T20 format. Unfortunately, he couldn't deliver well for team Pakistan so far but I still believe he is an ideal player for the number 5th or 6th spot in the batting line up in the T20 format."
 
Sure the environment and maybe clarity even wasn't ideal for Azam bit he's at a stage now where complaining will only get him further away from the National Side.

If he needs to play for Pakistan he needs to perform for Pakistan.
 
He is not doing what he is capable of maybe because of extra pressure.

I spoke to him here in PCHL few days ago and he mentioned that he is trying to get back in form and he is working very hard as well
 
He is still so stubborn. Just 1 good knock and comes out lashing at other guys.

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Azam Khan during an interview said:

“The team always comes first for me. If it’s a team game and only an individual is made a scapegoat, it makes me a bit angry,”

“I get frustrated sometimes. Yes, I deserve an opportunity. I have made three comebacks into the Pakistan team in the past five years,”

"There’s no one close to my batting numbers at the No.5 and No.6 positions in Pakistan. In the last four years, only twelve batters have scored runs at an average of more than 25 and a strike-rate in excess of 145 in T20 cricket,"

“The complete list includes Tim David, Glenn Phillips, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Azam Khan, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Harry Brook, Suryakumar Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Liam Livingstone and Heinrich Klaasen,"

“If I stand among these T20 greats in terms of average and strike rate and I am not given the confidence, cricket has become so fast-paced that it won’t be a financial problem for me because you get so many league cricket tournaments. I know I have this opportunity to make money but I want to play for Pakistan,"

“If you give me a long run and I don’t perform, I have no problem if Pakistan drop me. I will try to find a way in by performing in domestic cricket, different leagues,”​
 
He is getting fatter and fatter. I would like to observe him for whole day just to see what his calorie intake is.

He is physically much more active than your average obese person which means he must be burning a lot as well.

He most be consuming 3,000+ at the very minimum and it is astonishing that no one has been able to regulate it.

I wonder what he eats in a day.
 
He is still so stubborn. Just 1 good knock and comes out lashing at other guys.

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Azam Khan during an interview said:

“The team always comes first for me. If it’s a team game and only an individual is made a scapegoat, it makes me a bit angry,”

“I get frustrated sometimes. Yes, I deserve an opportunity. I have made three comebacks into the Pakistan team in the past five years,”

"There’s no one close to my batting numbers at the No.5 and No.6 positions in Pakistan. In the last four years, only twelve batters have scored runs at an average of more than 25 and a strike-rate in excess of 145 in T20 cricket,"

“The complete list includes Tim David, Glenn Phillips, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Azam Khan, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Harry Brook, Suryakumar Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Liam Livingstone and Heinrich Klaasen,"

“If I stand among these T20 greats in terms of average and strike rate and I am not given the confidence, cricket has become so fast-paced that it won’t be a financial problem for me because you get so many league cricket tournaments. I know I have this opportunity to make money but I want to play for Pakistan,"

“If you give me a long run and I don’t perform, I have no problem if Pakistan drop me. I will try to find a way in by performing in domestic cricket, different leagues,”​
A rubbish cricketer who thinks too highly on himself.
 
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He is very arrogant...he doesnt want to show any willingness to improve his fitness but speaks as if he is the only talented batsman left on the planet earth.
 
"There’s no one close to my batting numbers at the No.5 and No.6 positions in Pakistan. In the last four years, only twelve batters have scored runs at an average of more than 25 and a strike-rate in excess of 145 in T20 cricket,"

“The complete list includes Tim David, Glenn Phillips, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Azam Khan, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Harry Brook, Suryakumar Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Liam Livingstone and Heinrich Klaasen,"

“If I stand among these T20 greats in terms of average and strike rate and I am not given the confidence, cricket has become so fast-paced that it won’t be a financial problem for me because you get so many league cricket tournaments.​
He is right. And I hate how he’s right. He is the most talented hitter in Pakistan it’s clear just watching him. The only one who comes close is Saim and I think he might even be a bigger talent than him. It’s very rare to do what he does, especially at tough positions to bat, and people don’t acknowledge this. People raved about Sharjeel in the past, this guys numbers at his position might be actually more impressive. That knock he played I don’t know many guys who could play it.

Will he perform in international cricket? Probably not because his fitness is awful. But yes talent alone this guy is really up there. If his fitness was close to acceptable I would be advocating to play him every single game.
 
The crazy thing too is he scores at that sr at a decent average without even maximising singles through running. He could even be higher sr than that if fit. Which is a scary thought.
 
He is getting fatter and fatter. I would like to observe him for whole day just to see what his calorie intake is.

He is physically much more active than your average obese person which means he must be burning a lot as well.

He most be consuming 3,000+ at the very minimum and it is astonishing that no one has been able to regulate it.

I wonder what he eats in a day.

To get to this point there had to be significant periods where he was consistently eating 5k+ per day.

The kind of lifestyle he’d have been living would be the type where you go to KFC but also stop at subway before you get home for a footlong.

To date nobody has ever revealed any details of Azam’s relationship with food despite being so high profile now. It must be pretty horrific hence something only extremely close people have been kept aware of.

I feel like this has to be a compulsive disorder and Azam Khan is firmly rooted in ‘denial’.
 
He is right. And I hate how he’s right. He is the most talented hitter in Pakistan it’s clear just watching him. The only one who comes close is Saim and I think he might even be a bigger talent than him. It’s very rare to do what he does, especially at tough positions to bat, and people don’t acknowledge this. People raved about Sharjeel in the past, this guys numbers at his position might be actually more impressive. That knock he played I don’t know many guys who could play it.

Will he perform in international cricket? Probably not because his fitness is awful. But yes talent alone this guy is really up there. If his fitness was close to acceptable I would be advocating to play him every single game.

The truth is that Azam is a highly unfit, terrible cricketer. He has been given multiple chances to play for Pakistan (which he did not deserve) and he has looked all at sea on every single occasion. And yet he thinks he’s as good as Harry Brook 😂😂. Talk about delusional and just pure arrogance.

Azam Khan needs to realise that he is not God’s gift to earth. He needs to work hard, actually perform rather than live in this delusional world where he thinks he has performed, own his mistakes and take fitness seriously. Until he does all of these things, he should not be anywhere near the Pakistani shirt.
 
How do you rate the flexibility of Azam Khan, who took an acrobatic diving catch off Hunain Shah's first delivery against Peshawar?

32jwbLa.jpg
 
He is getting fatter and fatter. I would like to observe him for whole day just to see what his calorie intake is.

He is physically much more active than your average obese person which means he must be burning a lot as well.

He most be consuming 3,000+ at the very minimum and it is astonishing that no one has been able to regulate it.

I wonder what he eats in a day.
I’ll tell you what he eats

Peshawar Zalmi’s jobber bowlers
 
I wish his performances in the leagues carried over to the international side. But across 8 matches his highest score is 8 and and he averages 4.83. It doesn't help that Rizwan is a much better wicket keeper than him and we can not place Azam Khan anywhere else on the field.
 
He isn't that great as a keeper but he also isn't that bad as a keeper.
 
I’ll tell you what he eats

Peshawar Zalmi’s jobber bowlers
None of that means anything if he keeps bottling chances in international cricket.

He might eat PSL bowlers but he gets eaten alive by every Tom, Dick and Harry in international cricket.

He talks a lot and makes a lot of excuses for someone who averages 4.8 after 7 international innings with a highest score of 10.
 
Azam Khan is a proven league bully. He can smash any bowler in any part of the world but it has to be a franchise league of something. As soon as he moves to internationals, he forgets to bat.
 
How do you rate the flexibility of Azam Khan, who took an acrobatic diving catch off Hunain Shah's first delivery against Peshawar?

32jwbLa.jpg
When that's the physical shape, even a normal task like jogging can look like an athletic achievement. A quality keeper actually makes the take look easy, for example, Ben Foakes wouldn't dive, he'll position himself to take that standing upright with quick footwork.
 
When that's the physical shape, even a normal task like jogging can look like an athletic achievement. A quality keeper actually makes the take look easy, for example, Ben Foakes wouldn't dive, he'll position himself to take that standing upright with quick footwork.
Agreed. That catch was good but not something any other wicket-keeper will have difficulty catching. Azam made it look special because of his physique. Yes, he can hit some sixes and big ones that some players will find difficult to hit.
 
I wish his performances in the leagues carried over to the international side. But across 8 matches his highest score is 8 and and he averages 4.83. It doesn't help that Rizwan is a much better wicket keeper than him and we can not place Azam Khan anywhere else on the field.
And why do you think that is? Because the level between PSL and actual International cricket is huge. He will never get these freebies when playing against real bowlers. He is a pathetic cricketer and should never play for Pak again.
 
This boy could have been the best one out there but so far, he has failed at the internationals. Look at his strike rate so far in PSL 9. One more chance?

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