Mohammad Hafeez: “We’ve given clarity to him (Azam Khan) that he is not going anywhere”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan team director and interim head coach Mohammad Hafeez revealed that he and the team management vowed to stick with big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan, and even conveyed that message to him.
Azam has failed to deliver in a majority of the T20Is he has played so far, scoring 77 runs in 11 games at an average of 11 and a strike-rate of 154.
Despite his dismal performances, Hafeez insisted that he would not drop the 25-year-old, who is the son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan.
“We’ve given clarity to him (Azam Khan) that he is not going anywhere,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently played in Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Ireland and made 48 runs at an average of 48 and a strike-rater of 266.66.
The men in green are now facing England in a four-match T20I series, which is level at 0-0 after the first match was abandoned due to rain.
Following this, Pakistan will be involved in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will take place in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.
Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan
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