Ramiz Raja: “Azam Khan’s batting against pace is problematic. When big teams will analyse him, they will bowl short balls against him and into his body in order to take him out of his comfort zone”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja acknowledged that wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan has a real problem when it comes to batting against fast bowlers.
He noted that Azam doesn’t look comfortable when facing seamers and pointed out that other teams will pick up on this weakness.
As a result, the ex-Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman expects opposition bowlers to pepper the 25-year-old with short bowls in order to “take him out of his comfort zone”.
While Ramiz is concerned about Azam’s ability to play fast bowling, he did praise the big-hitter for his strike-rate against spin, saying it is “very good”.
“Azam Khan’s batting against pace is problematic. When big teams will analyse him, they will bowl short balls against him and into his body in order to take him out of his comfort zone. His strike-rate against spin is very good but it is not that good against pace. He needs to work on his batting against pace,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam did not feature in Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand as he was out of action with a grade one tear in his right calf muscle.
However, he returned to amass 48 runs in three T20Is against Ireland at an average of 48 and a strike-rate of 266.66.
He was then involved in a four-match T20I series against England and mustered 11 runs in two games at an average of 5.50 and a strike-rate of 73.33.
Pakistan will now be in action in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which is taking place in the West Indies and United States of America.
The men in green’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed