Khan’s inclusion in the Pakistan team was questioned by many legendary cricketers and the Pakistan Cricket Board was criticized for selecting the legendary Moin Khan’s son despite concerns about his fitness and weight.
In the T20 World Cup match against co-hosts United States, Khan batted at number six but was dismissed for a first-ball duck. The 25-year-old was subsequently dropped for the next match against India, which Pakistan lost by six runs.
After the match, a video surfaced on social media showing Khan eating street food late at midnight in New York.
Khan faced extensive trolling on social media platforms for his actions.
Former Pakistan captain and Team Director Mohammad Hafeez criticised Khan on Friday, revealing some shocking details about him.
Hafeez, appointed as Team Director in November last year, was sacked by the PCB just three months later following the team’s embarrassing 3-0 Test series loss to Australia and a 4-1 T20I series defeat to New Zealand.
During his tenure, Hafeez supported Khan in the New Zealand series, but the son of former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan failed to meet Hafeez’s expectations.
In a program on a local sports channel, Hafeez called Khan unprofessional and stated that the 25-year-old is not ready to play international cricket.
“(On meeting Azam Khan for the first time) Azam Khan, if you want to play cricket for Pakistan, you need to do two things. First, you have to try your best to get physically fit, which is the requirement at the international level. Second, whenever you get an opportunity, you have to perform. I also want you to work hard on your wicket-keeping abilities because with your current fitness, you can’t do fielding,” Hazeez said while speaking to a local sports channel in Pakistan.
“I connected Azam Khan with the incumbent Pakistan trainer and shared all the plans with him. Regardless of his body weight and body fat level, I told him that I don’t care about that; all I cared about is that you needed to bring your fat level down and improve your running abilities. You need to increase your running abilities so that the team’s balance doesn’t get affected during the game,” Hafeez said.
“After allotting him a 6-week program, when Azam Khan appeared, he was still at the same body weight and body fat level as he was 6 weeks prior. His running ability was also twice as low as the rest of the team. If the rest of the team could cover 2 kilometers in 10 minutes, Azam Khan could only do it in 20 minutes. So, I went to talk to him and asked him why he didn’t follow the plan and role given to him. He didn’t have any answer, saying he tried his best but couldn’t. This is unprofessionalism,” the former Pakistan cricketer said.
“Then, Azam Khan got another chance and played three matches. I found that this guy is not ready to play international cricket. I told him again that if you want to play for Pakistan, you need to show more commitment. But I didn’t see that commitment in him. After three matches, I rested him and informed the selectors about my findings regarding him. Now, it’s up to them to decide whether to play him in the future or not?,” an angry Hafeez said.
Khan has played 14 T20Is so far and scored just 88 runs at an average of 8.80.