Azam Khan declared 'unprofessional' and 'not ready for international cricket' as Mohammad Hafeez rips into batter's fitness

Former Pakistan captain and Team Director Mohammad Hafeez has revealed shocking details about middle-order batsman Azam Khan.

Mohammad Hafeez, who had taken over as the Team Director of Pakistan last year in November, was sacked by the PCB just 3 months after his appointment. That was mainly due to the 4-1 loss that the Green Army had endured during their tour of New Zealand for a 5-match T20I series after losing 3-0 to Australia in a Test series.

It was in the New Zealand series that Mohammad Hafeez had backed Azam Khan to play the series but the latter could not repay Hafeez's faith. The right-hander could only score 22 runs from the 3 T20Is he played against the Kiwis before getting dropped from the last T20I. After the series, Hafeez was sacked but Azam was not reprimanded for his performances.

A few months went by. Azam Khan became the best wicket-keeper of PSL 9 and was included in Pakistan's team for the T20I series against England and Ireland. In both of those series, Azam had a terrible performance which continued to happen in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 as well. After getting out for a golden duck in the game against the USA, Azam was dropped for the India and Canada clash.

What did Mohammad Hafeez say about Azam Khan?

While speaking to a local Pakistani channel, Mohammad Hafeez revealed shocking things about Azam Khan. Hafeez spoke about Azam being very unprofessional in terms of reducing his weight and trying to keep his fitness levels in check.

The former opener narrated that he went to Azam Khan and used to have no answer when asked about why his fitness and weight were not improving despite having diet plans in hand. In spite of that, Mohammad Hafeez had given him the chance to express and showcase his talent but Hafeez feels that Azam is not ready for international cricket.

"I went to Azam Khan and asked him why his weight and fitness levels were the same despite being given a fitness plan. He had no answer for me. To me, that is unprofessional. We gave him a chance, but I feel he is not mentally ready for international cricket," Hafeez said.

Hafeez discloses the timing of Azam Khan's 2 KM run

Mohammad Hafeez was not only concerned about Azam Khan but he was also concerned about Pakistan cricket suffering because of the batter.

Hafeez disclosed that when the batter joins a training program, his weight and fitness levels remain the same as they used to be about 6 weeks ago. That means, Azam hates working hard and believes that by being the son of Moin Khan, he will keep on getting chance after chance.

Lastly, Mohammad Hafeez disclosed that it takes Azam Khan 20 minutes to complete just a 2-kilometre run whereas others complete that in 10 minutes.

"When Azam Khan joins a training programme, he's the same weight 6 weeks later that he started with. His fat levels are the same. The rest of the team runs 2km in 10 minutes, it takes him 20 minutes," Hafeez concluded.