Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt recalls that whenever keeper-batter Azam Khan fails to perform, he will be criticized endlessly. The youngster has given flop performances back-to-back against their four-match series opposing England in the T20I series.
Azam Khan had problems against the short ball- Salman Butt
The first and third match was canceled due to rain. Azam secured 11 runs in the second match and was dismissed for a five-ball duck in the fourth and final match on Thursday, May 30. While talking on his YouTube channel, this is what he mentioned about the 25-year-old:
“Everything related to Azam Khan will be criticized whenever he doesn’t perform. This is because what he presents is open to criticism. He invites criticism with the kind of fitness he carries. He had problems against the short ball.”
Suggestion to Azam to work on his fitness and health, Salman added:
“People are going to speak about him. The way he got out today, his eyes were closed while facing the short ball, and then his wicketkeeping. His fitness is always going to be under the scanner. I think he has to decide on his career. He should work on his fitness, otherwise, it is going to be very difficult for him to play.”
Azam displayed a poor performance against England in the fourth and final fixture where he dropped two catches. England concluded the series with 2 wins over Pakistan to gain momentum ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Azam Khan, being a part of the Pakistan squad for the upcoming event has yet to prove his worth at the international level as he only scored 88 runs from 13 T20Is at an average of 9.77.
Isn’t someone who should be batting at No. 4 – Salman Butt on Shadab Khan
All-rounded Shadab Khan batted at No. 5 in Pakistan’s batting order during the 4th T20I series. But his strategy wasn’t successful as he bagged a run of 3 and 0 only.
The former skipper mentioned that the all-rounder shouldn’t be batting at the top and also commented on the leg-spinner’s form:
“Shadab Khan isn’t someone who should be batting at No. 4. Yes, there might be an odd good knock, but if you bat at one position regularly, you might do well once in a while. He is not having a good time. His first two overs were good in this game. But his confidence went downhill after after Bairstow hit him for two sixes.”
Shadab Khan remained wicketless in both the T20I series. He gave 55 runs from only four overs in the second fixture. But did a better job at conceding 20 runs from 3 overs in the fourth fixture.
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