Azam Khan, the young and dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman, has been making headlines for all the right reasons in Pakistan cricket. The son of former Pakistan cricketer Moin Khan has shown immense potential with the bat. However, Azam Khan’s fitness levels have become a cause for concern, which hinders his chances of becoming a permanent member of the national team.
Azam Khan’s fitness is the only worrying factor about him
The wicket-keeper batsman plays for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League. It would not be wrong to say that he was brilliant in the recent season. His stats are proof of it. He played 10 games and scored 282 runs with an average of 40.28 and a strike rate of 161.14. His highest score remained 97 runs.
This impressed the selectors and that landed him a place in the national squad. He could not do much with the bat against Afghanistan, but the public was not concerned about it because they knew about his potential. It was Azam khan’s fitness, which worried the cricket fraternity.
Due to his fitness, Azam Khan is not able to move as swiftly in the field as one would like. This leaves the captain with the option to give the responsibility of wicket-keeping to him. But unfortunately, that turned out to be no good either. There were a lot of missed opportunities behind the stumps but they were not highlighted to a great extent because it was just a bilateral series. But in international tournaments and other important games, the missed opportunity could turn out to be pretty costly.
Also Read: Don’t let Azam Khan’s weight overshadow his cricketing abilities
Is Azam the answer to Pakistan team’s struggle in T20?
Pakistan does need a batsman who can hit the ball like Azam does. He is a natural when it comes to batting and a young player like him could only make the T20 team better. The boys in green do struggle with the strike rate and tend to slow the game down a bit, Azam seems like the perfect fix to it.
No chance or proper chance?
This is one of the reasons he was added to the team. But he was dropped after only two games. The issue with this is that he does not get proper chances. Either, there should be a set rule that he could not play unless he improves his fitness or you give the young batsman a proper chance to prove himself in the international world.
What does the public think?
There have been mixed opinions about the whole situation. Some people like Aaqib Javed think that Azam is not worthy of the star on the green shirt while others think that he could be a great addition. One thing that nobody objects to is that if Azam Khan’s fitness improves, nobody would object to his inclusion.
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