Moin Khan: “With Sarfaraz as our number one choice wicketkeeper, we could not offer that”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Quetta Gladiators head coach Moin Khan said there was no way his son, Azam Khan, was going to replace Sarfaraz Ahmed as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman.
Since Sarfaraz captains the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise as well, Azam was always the back-up wicketkeeper.
However, he is no longer with the Gladiators as he was traded to Islamabad United.
In this year’s PSL, he amassed 296 runs in 12 matches for Islamabad United, which included two fifties, at an average of 29.60 and a strike-rate of 141.62.
“With Sarfaraz as our number one choice wicketkeeper, we could not offer that,” Moin told Cricket Pakistan.
After PSL 7, Azam represented Southern Punjab in the Pakistan Cup and scored 230 runs in seven games, which included a top score of 83, at an average of 32.85 and a strike-rate of 125.
Even though he has shown flashes of brilliance behind the stumps and with the bat, the talented youngster was not picked for Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against the West Indies in Multan.
In the first ODI, Pakistan emerged victorious by five wickets.
The second match will be played on Friday.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies ODI Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Zahid Mahmood