Azam Khan, Pakistan's keeper-batsman, came under fire on Thursday after his team suffered a humiliating seven-wicket defeat in the fourth and final T20I against England at the Oval.
Azam, who hit a five-ball duck and then dropped a pair of sitters behind the wickets, earned criticism on social media as his blistering form with both bat and gloves continued.
The 25-year-old has recently had a streak of low scores and has been bad behind the stumps, and his lackluster performance in Pakistan's penultimate T20I game before the T20 World Cup sparked speculation about his selection and place in the team on social media.
In the final game, after restricting Pakistan to 157 all out, England powered to its target with 27 balls remaining largely thanks to Phil Salt’s 45 and captain Jos Buttler’s 39 in their opening stand of 82 off 38 balls.
The burly keeper-batter was hurried by a Mark Wood bouncer which hit his gloves and shoulder before being caught by keeper Jos Buttler. The image of Azam Khan’s closed eyes and trying his best to evade the ball went viral on social media.
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Azam Khan has played 13 T20Is and made only 88 runs with a best of 30* at an average of 9.77 and a strike rate of 135.38. He has not been the tidiest keeper behind the stumps and the Pakistan fans had enough of the chances given to him.
Interestingly, Pakistan played two more keepers in their XI along with Mohammad Rizwan and Usman Khan. Notably, Azam Khan is the son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, who was a keeper himself. This led to fans slamming Azam Khan as an example of nepotism on social media apart from his poor performance.
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