Rashid Latif: “He is under immense pressure. He is being body shamed, is being trolled”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has urged people to stop body shaming and trolling wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan.
Azam has long been criticised for being overweight, while his poor performances with the bat haven’t helped his case either.
The 25-year-old, who is the son of ex-Pakistan skipper Moin Khan, has accumulated 88 runs in 14 T20Is at an average of 8.80 and a strike-rate of 133.33.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, Azam only featured in the opening match against the United States of America, but was dismissed for a golden duck.
Even though the big-hitter has fallen well short of expectations, Latif reiterated it doesn’t mean people can launch personal attacks at him.
“He is under immense pressure. He is being body shamed, is being trolled,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India in the T20 World Cup before bouncing back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Despite winning their last two group stage games, the men in green failed to make it through to the Super Eights.
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