Ramiz Raja: “I believe that Azam Khan has burned out. There is so much pressure on him and I think that if he is not keeping, then it is not good to hide him in fielding because every player has an ego”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja believes wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan “has burned out”.
He noted that there is an immense amount of pressure on the 25-year-old due to him being overweight and not scoring runs consistently.
Additionally, there is also the question of whether he should be Pakistan’s go-to wicketkeeper in T20Is since many feel that Mohammad Rizwan is the best option behind the stumps.
However, Ramiz expressed his concern about how Azam would fare if he were placed in the outfield.
“I believe that Azam Khan has burned out. There is so much pressure on him and I think that if he is not keeping, then it is not good to hide him in fielding because every player has an ego. If he slips during fielding then they change his position which is not good because his best position is behind the wicket,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
Azam recently represented Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and was dismissed for a golden duck in the opening game against the United States of America, which was the only match he played.
The men in green lost to the United States of America and India before bouncing back to beat Canada and Ireland.
Despite triumphing in those two games, they failed to qualify for the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup:Â 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