Azam Khan receives sympathy from Rashid Latif after being body shamed by Babar Azam openly

Former Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Rashid Latif has come out in support of under-fire keeper batsman Azam Khan who is a part of the T20 WC squad.

The Pakistani team, led by Babar Azam, will kick off their ICC T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against co-hosts USA later tonight. The Grand Prairie Stadium will play host to the 3rd Group A match which promises to go down the wire later today. Pakistan's wicket-keeper batsman choice will be interesting to see as to whom they will back - Azam Khan or Mohammad Rizwan.

Before arriving in the USA for the T20 World Cup, Pakistan had lost a 4-match T20I series in England by 2-0 in which Azam Khan featured as the keeper. His performance behind the stumps was questionable but what was also put to trial was his run-scoring ability.

From his 13 T20 internationals, the right-hander is yet to play out a notable innings and it remains to be seen if he gets the nod for the World Cup. Mohammad Rizwan is certainly the more experienced one behind the stumps as well as with the bat but it will be interesting to see if Azam Khan gets backed by the management.

Rashid Latif says he feels bad for the trolling of Azam Khan

During the England tour's 4th T20I, Azam Khan became a subject of massive criticism due to the way he had lost his wicket to pacer Mark Wood. Azam was anyways struggling against leg-spinner Adil Rashid and Wood made matters much worse.

After a series of good length deliveries, Mark Wood bowled a fiery bouncer to Azam Khan which bamboozled the latter. So much so that Azam's eyes got closed when the ball came to him. The ball took a heavy deflection off his gloves before hitting his shoulders and landing safely in the gloves of Jos Buttler.

It was obvious that people on social media would make a mockery out of his dismissal and that's what happened. Some made fun of his size while others questioned the credibility of his becoming a National team player.

Amid the criticism against him, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif came in his support. Latif admitted that Azam doesn't deserve to be body-shamed and trolled on social media.

"He is under immense pressure. He is being body-shamed, is being trolled. Azam is an exceptional batsman in T20s. He is a clean hitter, plays spinners well, has worked on his game against the pacers. I feel bad for the kid, he is only 25. He doesn’t deserve to be trolled like this." - Rashid Latif told the Indian Express.

Can the USA upset Pakistan?

Whenever the T20 World Cup comes around, the talk of upsets in the tournament comes around as well. In the last edition we had seen a couple and this time around, too, a few can take. One upset can take place tonight only if the USA displays the same performance as they had against Bangladesh in a recent T20I series and against Canada in the T20 WC opener on June 2nd.

In 2022, Pakistan were beaten by Zimbabwe by just 1-run. Can the USA do the same? Time will tell.