Shahid Afridi: “I praise him too, he’s strong and well-built, he hits well. He has played good knocks in the West Indies”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said he praises “strong and well-built” wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan despite his struggles at the international level.
Afridi has previously slammed Azam for being overweight, saying he would never allow the 25-year-old near the team due to his poor fitness standards.
On this occasion, though, the renowned six-hitter lauded Azam for his ball-striking ability, which he has mostly shown at the domestic level.
“I praise him too, he’s strong and well-built, he hits well. He has played good knocks in the West Indies,” Afridi was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Azam missed Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand due to a grade one tear in his right calf muscle.
He returned to feature in the three-match T20I series against Ireland, where he struck 48 runs at an average of 48 and a strike-rate of 266.66.
Following this, he was involved in the four-match T20I series against England, but only mustered 11 runs in two games at an average of 5.50 and a strike-rate of 73.33.
Currently, Azam is playing in the 2024 T20 World Cup and was dismissed for a duck in Pakistan’s opening game against the United States of America.
He was subsequently removed from the playing XI for the next two games against India and Canada.
Pakistan lost their first two matches before rebounding to defeat Canada by seven wickets.
Their next game will be against Ireland on June 16 in Lauderhill.
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