Shadab Khan: “I’m not saying he should necessarily be in the Pakistan team, but in our franchise, we provide him cover, and he always performs for us”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I vice-captain Shadab Khan has defended wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan’s fitness, but made it clear that he is “not saying he should necessarily be in the Pakistan team”.
Azam has long been criticised for being overweight despite having taken steps to become fitter.
Additionally, the 26-year-old son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan has also been lambasted for his subpar performances.
However, Shadab feels “there shouldn’t be any questions about Azam’s fitness”, while adding that “he always performs for us”.
Shadab’s comments come after the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he played alongside Azam as the captain of Islamabad United.
“There shouldn’t be any questions about Azam’s fitness; we can cover for him. I’m not saying he should necessarily be in the Pakistan team, but in our franchise, we provide him cover, and he always performs for us. Yes, fitness is important, but for us, his performance matters more,” he was quoted as saying by A Sports.
In PSL 10, Azam mustered 66 runs in seven matches for Islamabad United at an average of 11 and a strike-rate of 101.53.
After the tournament ended, Pakistan took on Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, but Azam was not included in the team.
Shadab, on the other hand, did feature in the series and took four wickets in three games at an average of 16.25 and an economy rate of 7.22.
He also scored 55 runs at an average of 27.50 and a strike-rate of 157.14.
The men in green won the series 3-0.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub
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