Tom Moody: “We have seen his performances over recent years in franchise cricket, where he has stunned the opposition, and stunned the crowd with some of his performances with the bat”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Australia batsman Tom Moody said Pakistan big-hitting batsman Azam Khan is capable of stunning opponents with his ruthless aggression and power.
Azam is one of the many power-hitting talents Pakistan have, but he has not been able to make the most of his chances at the international level.
The 25-year-old son of former captain Moin Khan has featured in five T20Is to date and only mustered seven runs at an average of 2.33 and a strike-rate of 53.84.
In the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), he amassed 224 runs in 13 matches for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, which included a top score of 54, at an average of 20.36 and a strike-rate of 155.55.
Most recently, he played for the Karachi Region Whites in the Pakistan Cup and made 121 runs in eight games at an average of 24.20 and a strike-rate of 90.97.
“We have seen his performances over recent years in franchise cricket, where he has stunned the opposition, and stunned the crowd with some of his performances with the bat,” Moody was quoted as saying on the website of International League T20 team, the Desert Vipers.
Azam wasn’t picked for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing their next four to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign in dismal fashion as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, which will begin on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi