Ramiz Raja highlights weak points of Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan

Former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja has pinpointed various areas of improvement for Pakistan cricketers Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Shadab Khan.

Pakistan lost the second T20I to England in Birmingham by 23 runs, getting bowled out for 160 while chasing a target of 184.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Raja highlighted Azam’s susceptibility to short balls and deliveries aimed at his body, suggesting that stronger teams would exploit this weakness.

"Azam Khan’s batting against pace is problematic. When big teams will analyse him, they will bowl short balls against him and into his body, in order to take him out of his comfort zone. His strike rate against spin is very good but it is not that good against pace. He needs to work on his batting against pace," Raja said.

For Shaheen Afridi, Raja noted that he tends to struggle when the ball doesn't swing.

"When ball doesn’t swing and he bowls full, then Shaheen gets hit for runs. He needs to develop length deliveries and change of pace in his armour, especially when pitch is not helping him," he said.

In the case of Shadab Khan, Raja expressed confusion over his role as a batsman, criticizing his tendency to adopt a slogging approach rather than building an innings when required.

"I don’t understand Shadab Khan’s role with the bat. When he goes out to bat, he bats as a slogger when the situation demands him to build the innings. His bowling form is also not up to the mark," he said.

Regarding Babar Azam, Raja pointed out his difficulty in facing spin bowling, contrasting his proficiency against pace.

"Babar Azam’s batting against spin is problematic. He was batting well against pace but whenever spinners come on, he becomes static, whether it is leg-spin or off-spin," he concluded.