[VIDEOS] "I will leave no stone unturned in making myself worthy of national selection" : Azam Khan

[MenInG]

Shahid Afridi:

"Azam Khan is also a good cricketer and Pakistan does not have a hard-hitting batsman like him who plays at that position in the batting line-up, and if he pays a little attention to his fitness then he can play for Pakistan"

 

[shortbread]

It appears that the PCB has lost faith in the likes of Sharjeel and Azam Khan being mature responsible adults who can be trusted to put in the work to lose weight, get fitter on their own and now want to personally baby sit, monitor them their selves to ensure that they are working actively to get fitter

More than the work they need to put in OR any training regime they undertake OR whatever PCB is facilitating in order to get them into the national squad... more than all that, the biggest priority is their calorie intake.

The reason Azam and Sharjeel are still very fat is because they continue eat a lot daily. Training will do little if they keep eating twice or thrice the carbs & fat most cricketers eat. The extra training will simply be detrimental as their joints, back etc take a pounding.

Also supporters need to stop this nonsense about being fat helping them to hit far... aFAT Lie!

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Yousuf speaking in an interiew:

“Azam Khan is young. I think he has played only one first-class season. He is an excited and emotional player. He loves hitting sixes. If you look at his cover drive, he plays that well too. He has the on drive as well. But then suddenly he wants to hit it out of the park. This is because he is more focused on that type of cricket like league cricket. Another thing is that spectators love watching sixes being hit"

“He has been working hard on his training and improving in his batting. Our aim was to reduce his weight. We haven’t spent a lot of time with him working on his batting so far. When he comes in the next time, we will try working with him some more and try harder. We do not tell him to not try hit sixes but they need to be hit at the right time. If you don’t need them and the team is cruising along then you don’t need to try to hit big. The most you usually get in T20s is either 180 to 190 or in some rare cases 215. That score can also be scored if you settle in and play your shots. The big players such as Williamson, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma keep playing in the gaps and score their runs"

https://cricketpakistan.com.pk/en/n...sixes-needs-maturity-like-kohli-sharma-yousaf

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

Take out Rohit sharma from that list .
Even i would've taken out virat but as per his recent innings he may somewhat fit in there but definitely above Williamson and babar.

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Yousuf speaking in an interiew:

“Azam Khan is young. I think he has played only one first-class season. He is an excited and emotional player. He loves hitting sixes. If you look at his cover drive, he plays that well too. He has the on drive as well. But then suddenly he wants to hit it out of the park. This is because he is more focused on that type of cricket like league cricket. Another thing is that spectators love watching sixes being hit"

“He has been working hard on his training and improving in his batting. Our aim was to reduce his weight. We haven’t spent a lot of time with him working on his batting so far. When he comes in the next time, we will try working with him some more and try harder. We do not tell him to not try hit sixes but they need to be hit at the right time. If you don’t need them and the team is cruising along then you don’t need to try to hit big. The most you usually get in T20s is either 180 to 190 or in some rare cases 215. That score can also be scored if you settle in and play your shots. The big players such as Williamson, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma keep playing in the gaps and score their runs"

https://cricketpakistan.com.pk/en/n...sixes-needs-maturity-like-kohli-sharma-yousaf

Why send him to NHPC for reducing weight!

 

[MesonK]

Can we put a ban on selection of ex cons like Amir, Sharjeel and fat players like Azam and Sarfaraz.

Pakistan cricket has turned into a joke

 

[MenInG]

So his first call up for Pakistan!

Part of the Pakistan T20I squad for England and West Indies tours

Mohammad Wasim: “As such, keeping in view the above and in consultation with captain Babar Azam and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, we have tried our best to maintain the winning combinations but at the same time recalled four experienced players and rewarded uncapped Azam Khan for his domestic performance, while also giving him the required confidence for the future challenges."

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Wasim talking about Sharjeel and Azam today:

"Even when Sharjeel Khan was selected before, I indicated that we are trying to create a balance between skill and fitness; Obviously fitness is an important part but when we talk about T20 games, we talk about fitness for 20 overs and then there are batting skills and we need to balance this out"

"We have seen fitness improve for Sharjeel Khan and the same applies to Azam Khan also; We have set goals for fitness for him in the future too which he will hopefully achieve"

"He has to work on fitness but we feel that we are in need of a batsman of the ability that Azam Khan has"

 

[MenInG]

So his first call up for Pakistan!

Part of the Pakistan T20I squad for England and West Indies tours

Mohammad Wasim: “As such, keeping in view the above and in consultation with captain Babar Azam and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, we have tried our best to maintain the winning combinations but at the same time recalled four experienced players and rewarded uncapped Azam Khan for his domestic performance, while also giving him the required confidence for the future challenges."

Azam Khan clearly delighted on being selected:

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[Ahmed216]

His footwork and off side game need improvement

 

[moghul]

Its just a shame that Moin's son who does not even look like a sportsman and has no domestic performance has been selected by a selector who's mission seems to be to keep all the important people and groups happy and no vision for Pakistan cricket, regrettable indeed.

 

[Saj]

I wish the kid well, but we seem to have gone from fitness being very important to fitness being less important in the space of a few weeks.

 

[Slim]

Embarrassing selection. Has definitely changed my opinion on Wasim Khan due to this. They have made getting into Pakistan Cricket Team a joke!

 

[Firebat]

There are still a lot of stones left to turn over before this guy is worthy of national selection. However, you can say that about a few players that have been picked recently, so who knows where the bar is. Just hide him at fine leg and hope for the best I suppose.

 

[kingusama92]

Unfortunately, he has to lose 2-3 stones instead of turning them.

His lack of fitness will get burned at the international level where they're good at exploiting such weaknesses.

 

[shamaan]

He has made the squad due to none performance from khushdil,Danish,asif,iftikhar its either we try azam or we get malik back in the squad

 

[Slim]

Embarrassing selection. Has definitely changed my opinion on Wasim Khan due to this. They have made getting into Pakistan Cricket Team a joke!

Correction: I meant muhammad wasim, the selector, not the chairman.

 

[Slim]

There are still a lot of stones left to turn over before this guy is worthy of national selection. However, you can say that about a few players that have been picked recently, so who knows where the bar is. Just hide him at fine leg and hope for the best I suppose.

Expect him to get sledged hard.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

He and sharjeel can't be in same playing 11

 

[BunnyRabbit]

He's had no batting practice or game time even before the squad to the previous tour was announced, so he's simply picked on promise? Or because he has lost a lot of weight.

I wish the kid well but I plead the selectors to impose a good policy of recent match practice and a season or having played 2 atleast of domestic cricket before picking a player.

 

[moghul]

He and sharjeel can't be in same playing 11

Let Azam Khan open with Sharjeel to make it an extremely top-heavy batting order.

 

[Sher Khan]

I wish the kid well, but we seem to have gone from fitness being very important to fitness being less important in the space of a few weeks.

It's not about fitness, Saj. Tell me how many domestic matches this kid has played? He has neither performed outstandingly nor has he played anywhere close to the matches one should play before being selected for International Cricket.

This experiment will be the same, 1-2 matches and then dropped.

 

[Savak]

I am assuming someone like Azam can afford Liposuction. Why not go for it?

 

[El Generico]

Even if we ignore the fitness issue, he hasn’t done enough to warrant a place in the side. Hammad Azam or Sohaib Maqsood are better picks at the moment.

 

[Saj]

It's not about fitness, Saj. Tell me how many domestic matches this kid has played? He has neither performed outstandingly nor has he played anywhere close to the matches one should play before being selected for International Cricket.

This experiment will be the same, 1-2 matches and then dropped.

It's another, did well in a few matches in PSL, so let's pick him, selection.

This could go 2 ways, inspired pick or horribly wrong.

 

[OMB]

Azam Khan doesn’t have to look like me to be successful, just make small improvements every day, it might just be fielding right now, getting quicker to the ball and gradually putting in the work to become a better version of himself. I think it’s unfair to compare people. He’s a guy who will always be a power-hitter and hit the ball a long way and what he needs to work on is to how he can get quicker between the wickets for longer periods of time when it gets hot out there. To make sure that he’s not tired when he’s scored 20 or 30. Every guy doesn’t have to have a six-pack to become a successful cricketer. There have been greats of the game who have looked different but had the skillset to perform at international cricket. It’s about small improvements every day.

- Faf Du Plessis in a press conference today.

 

[shamaan]

Even if we ignore the fitness issue, he hasn’t done enough to warrant a place in the side. Hammad Azam or Sohaib Maqsood are better picks at the moment.

Shaoib maqsood has been batting in the top 4 and we don't need another one who can bat in the top 4 we need someone who can come in at 5,6

 

[MenInG]

Azam Khan - before the start of the Abu Dhabi leg of the tournament

 

[El Generico]

Shaoib maqsood has been batting in the top 4 and we don't need another one who can bat in the top 4 we need someone who can come in at 5,6

Good point but even than I would prefer Hammad Azam or even Aamer Yamin. They are both capable late order hitters. Just seems too early for Azam plus the other two guys also give the team an extra bowling option.

 

[Usman]

Let Azam Khan open with Sharjeel to make it an extremely top-heavy batting order.

) too good!!

We are clearly very willing to comprise fitness these days. Standards are dropping and the first place we'll see the impact of that is dropped catches. I predict that fielding will suffer big time because of the new obesity policy!

 

[Golden arm]

Azam Khan - before the start of the Abu Dhabi leg of the tournament

View attachment 109493View attachment 109494View attachment 109495

Vow Aleem Dar looks super fit and infact a younster infront of heavy middle order batsman!!!!

 

[arehaan]

Azam Khan needs to play as a keeper if we have to accommodate him in T20s.

With Rizwan opening and being an excellent fielder this is the only way he can get into the team.

Imagine a fielding side with Sharjeel and Azam Khan.

 

[MenInG]

Taken on 4th June (source is Twitter)

 

[shamaan]

Good point but even than I would prefer Hammad Azam or even Aamer Yamin. They are both capable late order hitters. Just seems too early for Azam plus the other two guys also give the team an extra bowling option.

Them two are all rounders who will properly bat at 9 in the t20 team I don't see them batting ahead of Shadab,imad,ashraf.i think yamin had one of the worst performance when he last played the psl.hammad azam should have played for Pakistan quite a while ago.but I don't see them in the squad anytime soon.

 

[Saj]

Taken on 4th June (source is Twitter)

View attachment 109546

Surely this can't be a recent picture.

I mean how can anyone look so different in the space of 3 or 4 days.

 

[shah_1]

What was Azam Khan doing in high performance center for two months? He looks the same

Useless

 

[Varun]

Don't tell me he is the latest saviour now.

 

[shortbread]

England vs Pakistan @ Lords, 2nd ODI, 2023

There it is. Azam gets to his first international ton. Takes off his helmet, and salutes the balcony. Gets down and does 20 push-ups. What impressive fitness, What an innings, an even better celebration. Short and wide, steered to third man for a quick two. First father-son WK combo to score centuries in England. Ecstasy in the balcony.

Unlikely to see this....innit! Such a short sighted and regressive selection, will have repercussions on future probables, 'I have talent, who cares about fitness?!'

 

[Rellu_Katta]

i dont think there are many bowlers in the circuit at the min who are fast enough to make this guy struggle.

Archer, Wagner, Furgosen, Starc ... rest he should be able to manage easy

He has in him to play the long game.... not tests but 50overs

we have given Asif Ali billions of games... we can live with Azam khan taking 20-30 games

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

Surely this can't be a recent picture.

I mean how can anyone look so different in the space of 3 or 4 days.

It's possible . !!
..

Only in Adobe Photoshop

 

[Sher Khan]

Taken on 4th June (source is Twitter)

View attachment 109546

Not taken on this date. That is an old photo, saw it last year on twitter.

 

[Saj]

Not taken on this date. That is an old photo, saw it last year on twitter.

So if that was last year, it looks like he's actually put on weight.

 

[Firebat]

Azam Khan at the top of the strike-rate tree:

 

[MenInG]

Looking good Azam so far...

 

[Saj]

Still looking on the heavy side despite the alleged loss of 30kg.

Work in progress regarding his weight I guess.

 

[MenInG]

Still looking on the heavy side despite the alleged loss of 30kg.

Work in progress regarding his weight I guess.

He is always a candidate for run out or stumping

 

[criclover2311]

He has a bulging stomach and cheeks but rest of body packs pure muscles especially arms and chest, he's naturally inclined to have big thighs and calves due to his built but that is actually strength for body not weakness, his thighs look bigger due to guards he has stuffed in.

 

[criclover2311]

He's fit big built never harms wont affect agility, elephants run faster than humans, he's fit, rishabh pant also keeps gaining stomach but it does not show due to his smaller built.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Another pathetic innings that showed his limitations as a batsman.

His fans will find ways to defend it as always but fact of the matter is that the responsibility was on him to finish the innings off and he couldn't do it. He couldn't rise to the occasion.

Based on everything I have seen of him he doesn't strike me as a particularly gifted or talented batsman. His entire game is muscling the ball. On flat tracks you might be able to get away with that, but without proper cricketing shots and the ability to rotate the strike; you're nothing more than another one-dimensional tullaybaaz. And on sporting wickets such players always get exposed.

Given the infatuation that Pakistani fans have with one-dimensional tullaybaaz players though, it comes as no surprise to me why so many people are high on him.

 

[Savak]

Another player who has been fast tracked too soon. Should have been made to earn his place via performances in domestic cricket

 

[MenInG]

Another pathetic innings that showed his limitations as a batsman.

His fans will find ways to defend it as always but fact of the matter is that the responsibility was on him to finish the innings off and he couldn't do it. He couldn't rise to the occasion.

Based on everything I have seen of him he doesn't strike me as a particularly gifted or talented batsman. His entire game is muscling the ball. On flat tracks you might be able to get away with that, but without proper cricketing shots and the ability to rotate the strike; you're nothing more than another one-dimensional tullaybaaz. And on sporting wickets such players always get exposed.

Given the infatuation that Pakistani fans have with one-dimensional tullaybaaz players though, it comes as no surprise to me why so many people are high on him.

Will you opinion change if he hits a quickfire 30 in 10 balls and wins the game for Quetta?

 

[moghul]

He's fit big built never harms wont affect agility, elephants run faster than humans, he's fit, rishabh pant also keeps gaining stomach but it does not show due to his smaller built.

Very interesting and unique observation, no one else could figure that out. vk1

 

[moghul]

Will you opinion change if he hits a quickfire 30 in 10 balls and wins the game for Quetta?

One fluke inning would not change his overall impression.

 

[umarf76]

He's fit big built never harms wont affect agility, elephants run faster than humans, he's fit, rishabh pant also keeps gaining stomach but it does not show due to his smaller built.

yes and i thought he played well yesterday. Showed that he can rotate the strike as well. He should be keeping wickets.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Will you opinion change if he hits a quickfire 30 in 10 balls and wins the game for Quetta?

He would have to radically change his game and start being consistent to change my opinion of him. Any player can fluke his way to one good, quick-fire innings from time to time. But is that what we are really looking for from a guy who is supposed to bat in the middle-order at the World Cup?

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Sad state for Pakistan cricket. An unfit, nepostim based selection.
No skills in this boy and top team bowlers will figure him in out in just 3 balls.

 

[Saj]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this lad's fielding.

He's tried to dive, rolled forward and missed the ball.

Terrible.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Multiple embarrassing midfields in just the first 10 overs

 

[Pakpak]

Another pathetic innings that showed his limitations as a batsman.

His fans will find ways to defend it as always but fact of the matter is that the responsibility was on him to finish the innings off and he couldn't do it. He couldn't rise to the occasion.

Based on everything I have seen of him he doesn't strike me as a particularly gifted or talented batsman. His entire game is muscling the ball. On flat tracks you might be able to get away with that, but without proper cricketing shots and the ability to rotate the strike; you're nothing more than another one-dimensional tullaybaaz. And on sporting wickets such players always get exposed.

Given the infatuation that Pakistani fans have with one-dimensional tullaybaaz players though, it comes as no surprise to me why so many people are high on him.

Absolutely spot on.

The guy has played, what, 4 good innings in 2 PSL seasons? Has done nothing else. Neither in domestic cricket nor even 90% of the PSL games he's played. He can't run or field or bowl either. I am astounded and flabbergasted why people want this guy in their team. Its mind boggling seeing his name in all those line ups people post in threads.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Absolutely spot on.

The guy has played, what, 4 good innings in 2 PSL seasons? Has done nothing else. Neither in domestic cricket nor even 90% of the PSL games he's played. He can't run or field or bowl either. I am astounded and flabbergasted why people want this guy in their team. Its mind boggling seeing his name in all those line ups people post in threads.

Its the age-old Pakistani infatuation with "aggressive batsmen". Anyone who can smash a couple of sixes automatically captures the attention of the people. Doesn't matter if the guy has little to no technique, a poor average or any real batting ability. I would accredit alot of this to Afridi who essentially exemplified this idea. No matter how many games he lost us thanks to his foolish batting, that was usually devoid of any consideration of the actual match; people always looked forward to the next Afridi six. And never forgot the handful of games in which he actually managed to fluke his way to a victory.

Thing about Azam though is that anyone who sees him bat a couple of times can tell he has no technique and very little grasp of the basics of batting. Even when he hits his go to shot which is hitting the spinner down the ground for six, you can oftentimes see that his footwork is very poor; he moves his entire body forward at once and is relying purely on strength. This is not at all surprising considering he has been handed everything on a silver platter and hasn't really earned anything. On top of that his fitness speaks for itself. How can you take someone like that seriously?

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this lad's fielding.

He's tried to dive, rolled forward and missed the ball.

Terrible.

This was absolutely comical.

 

[Slim]

Nepotism and Nepotism and ONLY Nepotism

Had he earned his place getting fit, toiling in domestics proving his mettle i would have openly supported his selection. Shame on Muhammad Wasim.

 

[Barragan]

Zero idea how he got selected!

No performances to speak of, just one flashy innings of 30 runs and into the national team you go.

wasim is turning out to be a very disappointing selector.

Maqsood 100% deserved to be selected ahead of both haider and Azam.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Another masterful innings by the child prodigy.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

He has made the squad due to none performance from khushdil,Danish,asif,iftikhar its either we try azam or we get malik back in the squad

khusdhil was doing well.. Would have given him more chances..

 

[marlonbrowndo]

khusdhil was doing well.. Would have given him more chances..

What exactly is your definition of well?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Feel sorry for the kid because he gets a lot of hate but he is nowhere close to international level, he's barely even club level at the moment.

 

[moghul]

Feel sorry for the kid because he gets a lot of hate but he is nowhere close to international level, he's barely even club level at the moment.

Every one would agree with you except two guys , for their own personal reasons. Moin Khan being the father and Mohammad Waseem the dummy selector trying to keep "important" people happy. Pakistan cricket is the last thing in their mind.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Feel sorry for the kid because he gets a lot of hate but he is nowhere close to international level, he's barely even club level at the moment.

That was bound to happen considering the way he was fast-tracked and given so many opportunities. He could have turned it into a positive and batted like he had a chip on his shoulder like Imam. But the kid just doesn't have any talent.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Every one would agree with you except two guys , for their own personal reasons. Moin Khan being the father and Mohammad Waseem the dummy selector trying to keep "important" people happy. Pakistan cricket is the last thing in their mind.

Mohammad Waseem is the worst selector I can recall in recent memory because unlike others he tries to act like his decisions are based on logic and statistical data, when in reality they are not and its all just an act to make people perceive him a certain way.

I detest people who try to act like something they are not.

 

[moghul]

Mohammad Waseem is the worst selector I can recall in recent memory because unlike others he tries to act like his decisions are based on logic and statistical data, when in reality they are not and its all just an act to make people perceive him a certain way.

I detest people who try to act like something they are not.

I think Mohammad Waseem is trying to get signed by Quetta Gladiator for some role through Moin Khan. There could not be any other reason for such a ridiculous act to select this joke of a cricketer , Azam Khan in the national side.

 

[shah_1]

What a sad state of affair to get him selected.

Our batting and spin options are hopeless

 

[kingusama92]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this lad's fielding.

He's tried to dive, rolled forward and missed the ball.

Terrible.

I mentioned this earlier.

Pakistan just assumes other teams roll up to the ground without scouting them. This guy is going to get targeted in the field as batsmen pick up easy singles, doubles, and even triples depending on where he's fielding.

Pakistan cricket is at least 10-15 years behind at this point. It doesn't matter who the selector/coach/captain is.

 

[Bouncer]

Always believed he's going to be the next social media hype generated Cricketer.

Pak's response to Atul 100MPH Sharma, a social media hype generated cricketer from a decade ago.

 

[ahmadharis1]

The only reason he has been selected is because he is Moin Khan's son... fact

 

[moghul]

The only reason he has been selected is because he is Moin Khan's son... fact

And, we have a dummy selector .

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I think Mohammad Waseem is trying to get signed by Quetta Gladiator for some role through Moin Khan. There could not be any other reason for such a ridiculous act to select this joke of a cricketer , Azam Khan in the national side.

Who knows what his true motives are. However every series he makes one or two selections that appeal to a specific group of people. Whether its journalists or fans. So my thinking is that he wants to hold onto this job for as long as possible which is why he makes so many populist picks.

 

[street cricketer]

He is always a candidate for run out or stumping

View attachment 109643View attachment 109644

What team is this..

Seems to have a replica of the KKR kit.

 

[Stewie]

Was terrible in the field against Zalmi. And the ball kept following him too. Sarfaraz was yelling at him approximately every 10 minutes during the game, he just could not figure out where to hide the guy! It was sad….

 

[Saj]

I mentioned this earlier.

Pakistan just assumes other teams roll up to the ground without scouting them. This guy is going to get targeted in the field as batsmen pick up easy singles, doubles, and even triples depending on where he's fielding.

Pakistan cricket is at least 10-15 years behind at this point. It doesn't matter who the selector/coach/captain is.

Absolutely. He will be a target in the field for every team.

This is exactly the type of fielder who can cost you a match by giving 8 to 10 extra runs in the field.