Misbah-ul-Haq lashes out on Azam Khan, asks the latter to show some discipline

Former Pakistan captain and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq who is best remembered for his knock during the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 final against India in South Africa, lashed out on 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman Azam Khan who is currently on duty for Islamabad United in the on-going 9th edition of Pakistan Super League which kicked off on 17th February with a clash between last year’s finalists – Multan Sultans and Lahore Qalandars.

Azam Khan who is dealing with a poor form off late in the international as well as franchise cricket scene, was once again scrutinized for his bad form when he got out for just 1 run off 4 balls during Islamabad’s 3rd PSL match of the season against the Quetta Gladiators who claimed the victory by chasing down a low total of just 139 at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

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Azam Khan’s flop shows continues

The 26-year-old who is the son of legendary former Pakistan cricketer and 1992 Cricket World Cup winner Moin Khan, has been dealing with inconsistent form and has continued to remain a flop with the bat in his last 8-10 matches for his respective franchises and country.

During Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand for a 5-match T20I series last month where the visitors lost by a 4-1 deficit, Azam Khan would put up terrible performances from the lower middle order. The power hitter who rose into prominence with his splendid PSL knocks, remained quiet throughout the series before being dropped from the playing XI after the first three T20Is.

He could only score 22 runs across the 3 matches in Auckland, Hamilton and Dunedin. The initial plan was to give him a longer rope in that series but to keep his self-confidence from further deterioration, Azam was dropped before he flew over to UAE to take part in the ILT20 for the Desert Vipers.

Over there too, Azam Khan remained very inconsistent, crossing the 30-run mark on only two occasions from 7 matches. He had scores of 26*, 9, 35, 20, 0, 50*, and 19 as the Desert Vipers crashed out of the tournament by finishing 5th in the points table.

Mid-way through the tournament, Azam complained that he didn’t feel welcomed in the Pakistan national team, claiming that franchises show more trust in him than his national side. His comments caused quite a bit of controversy but he needs to think to himself, how can he get chances consistently if he is unable to score runs regularly?

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“His overall fitness should be sufficient”, Misbah-ul-Haq questions Azam’s poor fitness

Azam Khan who made his debut for the senior Pakistan T20 team during Misbah-ul-Haq’s tenure as head coach, was heavily criticized by the latter for not being fit enough to deliver ideal performances for whichever team he plays for. Misbah took note of his past performances and asked him to show some more discipline.

“I’m not suggesting he (Azam Khan) needs to be slim, but his overall fitness should be sufficient for optimal performance in the game. He also needs to slightly improve his discipline. Franchises pick only four foreign players and give you ten games. However, if you don’t perform in international cricket for a few games, there are more guys waiting to take your place.” – Misbah-ul-Haq said via A Sports. 

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