Mike Hesson: “I get frustrated, I guess, with you know, many players you work with around the world is that not everybody looks the same and not everybody has to have a six-pack and be incredibly athletic to be a fine cricketer”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Islamabad United head coach Mike Hesson has vented his frustration at all the criticism directed towards Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan about his weight, saying cricketers don’t need to have a six-pack to be great players.
Azam has constantly been lambasted for his fitness, even though he has worked hard to lose weight.
Hesson pointed out that he prefers to judge players based on their performance rather than their athleticism as not everybody can “look a certain way.”
“I get frustrated, I guess, with you know, many players you work with around the world is that not everybody looks the same and not everybody has to have a six-pack and be incredibly athletic to be a fine cricketer,” he told PakPassion.
“And some players focus their attention on skills or people just have different body shapes as well. I think for people to clone cricketers and think that they have to look a certain way, I prefer to judge players on performance.”
Azam recently played for Islamabad in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and accumulated 226 runs in 12 matches, which included a top score of 75, at an average of 25.11 and a strike-rate of 171.21.
Islamabad made it to the final and ended up being crowned champions after beating the Multan Sultans by two wickets.
Islamabad United Squad for PSL 9: Shadab Khan (captain), Naseem Shah, Jordan Cox, Imad Wasim, Azam Khan, Tymal Mills, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Rumman Raees, Matthew Forde, Salman Ali Agha, Qasim Akram, Shahab Khan, Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Shamyl Hussain, Obed McCoy, Haider Ali, Muhammad Waseem