‘Rizwan ne mana kar diya to koi nahin khel sakta’ – Fans react as Azam Khan dropped from playing XI for fourth T20I despite ‘getting backed by team management’

Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Azam Khan has been dropped from the playing XI for the ongoing fourth T20I against New Zealand. He played the first three games and managed 22 runs with the highest score of 10. Khan has been replaced by Sahibzad Farhan, who is an opening batter but batted at number 6 in the ongoing game. Notably, a couple of days back, the wicketkeeper batter claimed that he was backed by the team management.

Apart from this, no changes have been made on the Pakistan side. On the other hand, the home team is missing the services of Devon Conway and has been replaced by Will Young.

Pakistan’s XI for the fourth T20I: M Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Iftikhar Ahmed, M. Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi (c), M. Wasim, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan

New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Philipps, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (c), Adam Milne, Matthew Henry, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson

In the game, for the first time in the series, the Blackcaps won the toss and chose to bowl first. In the first three games, the Asian side won the toss and bowled first. Leading the series by 3-0, the home team picked four wickets for 86 runs. Rizwan (90*) and Mohammad Nawaz (21*) helped the team reach 158/5 at the end of the innings at the time of writing.

How many players scored 19 runs in seven games: Salman Butt on Azam Khan

Recently, former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt questioned Azam Khan’s place in the team.

“Azam Khan has 19 runs from seven T20Is. People have started questioning his place in the team. Already, you carry something with you regarding fitness, and if you fail to perform consistently, I don’t know how long you will survive. How many players have scored 19 runs from seven matches in Pakistan’s history? He must take this seriously. If he continues to fail in the remaining matches, I don’t think he will get chances in the future,” Butt said on YouTube.

This is how Twitter reacted