Pakistan’s legendary former batsman Mohammad Yousaf, in an interview with Cricket Pakistan, revealed that youngster Azam Khan loved hitting sixes but needed to play in the gaps more often like the great batsmen of today such as Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma.

The 46-year-old stated that Azam Khan, who plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League and is son of former wicketkeeper-batsman Moin Khan, is an excited and emotional cricketer.

“Azam Khan is young. I think he has played only one first-class season. He is an excited and emotional player. He loves hitting sixes. If you look at his cover drive, he plays that well too. He has the on drive as well. But then suddenly he wants to hit it out of the park. This is because he is more focused on that type of cricket like league cricket. Another thing is that spectators love watching sixes being hit,” Yousaf said.

“He has been working hard on his training and improving in his batting. Our aim was to reduce his weight. We haven’t spent a lot of time with him working on his batting so far. When he comes in the next time, we will try working with him some more and try harder. We do not tell him to not try hit sixes but they need to be hit at the right time. If you don’t need them and the team is cruising along then you don’t need to try to hit big. The most you usually get in T20s is either 180 to 190 or in some rare cases 215. That score can also be scored if you settle in and play your shots. The big players such as Williamson, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma keep playing in the gaps and score their runs,” he added.

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The former Pakistan captain also claimed that the cricketers in the Pakistan side were mentally strong and physically fit.

“The players are working hard. It isn’t a guarantee that all batsmen in the side will score in every match. Sometimes one will step up while another will step up the next time. Those who are technically sound are bound to step up more often than not,” he said.  

“Mohammad Rizwan is performing consistently for his side. Last year it was Mohammad Hafeez who scored a lot of runs. Babar Azam scores runs in almost every match. There are always three or four batsmen who are always scoring. The players are mentally strong. Fitness wise they are also going really well,” he concluded.