Guest: AZAM KHAN (CRICKETER)
HOST: IMRAN KHAN
#azamkhan #imrankhan #arypodcast #podcast
HOST: IMRAN KHAN
#azamkhan #imrankhan #arypodcast #podcast
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Do you remember Kakul?
00:02 I remember it a lot.
00:04 I think I have been to a lot of good places in the last 2-3 weeks.
00:08 Ever since I have rested outside Kakul.
00:10 I remember it a lot. I remember the food there.
00:12 The one without spices.
00:14 Everyone used to say that I am scared of fastball.
00:16 I didn't have many shots.
00:18 Cricket has become so fast that you can get caught anytime.
00:20 On the international circuit.
00:22 So I think my strike rate was around 122 in those days.
00:26 And after that, I made a lot of changes in my batting.
00:29 I have played a lot of offside games.
00:31 That's why I think my strike rate has gone up.
00:33 What are your inspirations for power hitting?
00:36 They could be from Pakistan or from elsewhere.
00:38 When I go to hit a ball with power, my balance gets out.
00:41 It's good.
00:43 Assalam-o-Alaikum. Welcome back to ARY Podcast.
00:58 You are watching a special series.
01:00 I have with me Pakistan team's middle order batter and wicket keeper, Azam Khan.
01:05 Azam, welcome to the show. How are you?
01:07 Thank you, Imran. How are you? I am fine.
01:09 I have heard that you have rested a lot.
01:11 And you are not tired at all.
01:13 I am a little tired. I didn't sleep.
01:17 I was very excited for the show.
01:19 So I couldn't sleep.
01:21 So you kept texting all night and kept asking questions.
01:23 I asked Imran to ask me the clauses.
01:26 I was excited for the show.
01:29 Tell me, do you miss Kakuul?
01:33 I miss it a lot.
01:35 I think the last 2-3 weeks have been good.
01:38 Since I have rested outside Kakuul.
01:40 But I miss it a little.
01:43 I miss the food there.
01:45 The one without spices.
01:47 What is your last day routine before you travel on tour?
01:50 The last day routine is that we come.
01:53 We have a light training session in the ground.
01:56 It is a little bit difficult because you don't want anyone to get injured on the last day.
02:02 So it is a little bit difficult.
02:04 And specially I am recovering from an injury now.
02:07 So I am feeling better and quite excited.
02:10 I am going to Ireland for the first time.
02:12 Do you know any good places to go?
02:14 If God wills, you go to New York.
02:16 So I will definitely tell you about good places in New York.
02:18 Azam, tell me that you have played around 150-160 T20 matches.
02:25 So you are an experienced cricketer.
02:27 You have played in league cricket around the world.
02:30 And your numbers are staggering in T20 cricket.
02:34 Unfortunately, when you play for Pakistan team,
02:37 that success doesn't translate into your international numbers.
02:42 What do you think is the biggest reason for this?
02:45 And how excited are you to rectify all of this and to change this in the coming matches?
02:51 Iran bhai, honestly, when I debuted, that was back in 2021.
02:57 So when I debuted in 2021, after that I didn't feel like I have ever debuted from Pakistan.
03:04 So, there was a long gap for me.
03:08 And I think to cover that gap, you feel a little bit of pressure.
03:12 Because if your performances in the past weren't as good as the team expects from you,
03:17 and then you prove everybody wrong and you join that team again with better performances,
03:26 obviously, you have a confidence.
03:28 Obviously, there were not so good performances in the past.
03:31 But God willing, I am quite hopeful that I will try to win matches for Pakistan in the future.
03:39 And I don't want to prove anyone wrong.
03:44 I want to prove myself right that I stand in this place and that's why I am in this team.
03:49 Azam, if I look at your batting, as you mentioned, you debuted in 2021.
03:54 Since then, your batting has evolved a lot.
03:58 If you look at 2022 onwards, you have changed your game a lot against fast bowlers.
04:04 Your strike rate has gone up.
04:06 What tweaks have you made to your batting to make that happen?
04:10 Honestly, Imran, in my starting career, everyone used to say that I am scared of fast bowlers.
04:17 And I didn't have so many shots.
04:20 So, as you know, cricket has become so fast that you can get caught anytime.
04:27 In international circuit, leagues, you know that there is so much data analysis that you can get caught anytime.
04:36 So, I think my strike rate was around 122 in those days.
04:40 And after that, I made a lot of changes in my batting.
04:44 I have played a lot of offside games.
04:46 That's why I think my strike rate has gone up a bit.
04:48 And the best thing about my batting is that I have learned to rotate.
04:54 The better you rotate, the easier the game becomes for you.
04:58 I mean, it's easy in the sense that you can read the game well.
05:02 So, with that in mind, I started watching MMA.
05:07 I told you that in one of my interviews.
05:10 Because I get a little confused with blood and stuff.
05:14 But I feel that if these fighters are ready to lose everything for one fight,
05:22 then I just have to take a blow on the body.
05:24 So, I think that was a day after which I felt that nothing will happen.
05:29 Nothing will happen.
05:30 It will only hit the body.
05:32 But I have to tolerate it.
05:34 So, MMA is...
05:36 My friend Shehzad, you know, he has motivated me a lot to watch MMA.
05:42 Although I can't watch it.
05:43 Because the injuries in it are very career-threatening.
05:47 There is a lot of trauma in watching it.
05:48 Exactly.
05:49 So, after that, I think, after I started watching MMA, a lot of things have improved.
05:55 Tell me, Azam, you are boxed as a power hitter.
06:00 You said that you worked on your rotation as well.
06:03 What were your inspirations for power hitting?
06:07 They could be from Pakistan or from elsewhere.
06:09 Brother Iman, as far as power hitters are concerned, I don't think I am a power hitter.
06:16 I mean, when I go to hit the ball with power, my balance gets out.
06:20 So, I try to time the ball in gaps.
06:24 And, Alhamdulillah, God has given me the power that I feel that if I hit the middle, it will be a six.
06:32 So, I mean, since childhood, I have seen the greatest batter of T20, Chris Gayle.
06:40 Although he is a lefty.
06:41 But if you look at his body mechanics, I think there is no better power hitter than him.
06:47 And if you look at recent cricket, I think no one can hit a sixer better than Andre Russell.
06:55 And I think there are a few other players who are very strong in the West Indies.
07:05 So, when I see them, when I play CPL, I feel that they are very strong.
07:11 I mean, I feel like I am nothing in front of them.
07:14 So, I mean, Russell has become Pollard.
07:19 We saw Pollard in PSL as well.
07:21 I mean, even if he gets hit on the edge, we say catch it.
07:24 And he goes to the stands and drops the ball.
07:26 I said, these people are not human, they are something else.
07:30 You played with Quentin de Kock, David Miller in CPL.
07:35 Then when you moved to Guyana, you played with Saim Ayub.
07:39 How was the CPL experience for you as a cricketer?
07:42 It was a great experience for me.
07:44 In the last three years, I have played two finals of CPL.
07:48 One of them, I used to play for Barbados.
07:51 But after that, I joined Amazon Warriors in Guyana.
07:56 And we won for the first time, in which, God willing, Saim scored more than 500 runs.
08:01 So, I think it was a very good season.
08:03 And it was a nice experience because I was the final in Guyana.
08:09 I became the champion for the first time in Guyana.
08:11 So, I think I got a lot of love from the whole country.
08:15 And we saw a lot of happy people there.
08:19 A day off was also announced for us, that you guys enjoy.
08:23 Then the Prime Minister, sorry, President Dr. Irfan Ali,
08:28 sent us to his private plane to see the Caetir Falls, me and Saim.
08:33 So, I think there are a lot of loving people there and I enjoy playing in CPL.
08:38 How will the experience of playing there help you in the World Cup, God willing?
08:42 It will help a lot.
08:44 And honestly, people think that CPL has some tricky wickets.
08:49 Obviously, if you play a match anywhere in the morning,
08:53 whether it's England or Australia,
08:56 in the morning, obviously, the ball moves a little or turns or seems around.
09:01 You can go to any corner of the world, it will happen.
09:04 But the pitches that Saim and I have discovered in CPL,
09:09 we have also scored 200+ runs.
09:12 I mean, our par score was almost 180+ in CPL.
09:16 So, I think, I don't think there will be such difficult wickets there.
09:20 And because it's during the summer time,
09:23 I think the tournament will be a little better there.
09:26 Tell me, what do you see in your role in the Pakistan cricket team?
09:31 And what conversations have you had with the captain, with the management?
09:35 There's a new coach in place in Gary Kirsten.
09:37 So, what is the thinking, what are you thinking about your own role within the team?
09:42 Honestly, I keep talking about it.
09:46 Obviously, we have spoken to Gary about it.
09:49 So, first of all, I always say that it's a team game.
09:53 It's not a sport of one or two people. It's not an individual sport.
09:57 It's a team game.
09:58 So, the 15 players here, they are good enough to be in this side
10:03 and play a World Cup for Pakistan.
10:06 So, I think, role clarity is given to everyone here.
10:10 And I didn't feel like this in the beginning.
10:12 When I came to the Pakistan cricket team in the initial stages,
10:15 I felt like I was feeling left out.
10:17 But Alhamdulillah, for the past one and a half years,
10:22 I feel like this.
10:23 Because I have so much confidence in my performance
10:27 that I know that when I perform, I can change the game at any moment.
10:31 So, I always feel like this.
10:33 And if God willing, if I get such a chance in the international,
10:37 I think it will be very beneficial and I will get a lot of confidence.
10:39 You mentioned international cricket.
10:41 So, the nature of pressure is very different from domestic T20 leagues.
10:47 How much do you rely on Mohin Bhai to navigate those pressure situations?
10:51 Do you keep in touch with him?
10:53 I keep in touch with him.
10:54 Obviously, when I don't perform, he calls me.
10:58 If I don't perform against Quetta, he doesn't call me.
11:01 But if I don't perform against any team,
11:05 or if there is a situation that he knows is very easy for me,
11:10 or I can achieve it and he doesn't call me,
11:12 I think there are some comments on that at home.
11:15 And obviously, it's a blessing for me that I have the biggest critique in my house.
11:21 So, I think there can't be a bigger blessing for me.
11:24 So, he explains a lot, but I also run away from him a little.
11:29 But I am happy when he is happy for me, when he feels proud for me.
11:37 Obviously, when I met the wicketkeeper of the tournament,
11:41 I could feel that he was very happy.
11:43 A legacy carried on over here.
11:45 Exactly. And obviously, I have to carry on and will try to play as much as I can for Pakistan.
11:53 Azam, you grew up around cricketers, watching your dad play cricket as well.
11:57 What was the moment when you realized that you also want to become a professional cricketer?
12:03 Was it clear from childhood or did you get clarity at the age of 16-17 that you have to become a professional cricketer?
12:10 Honestly, I started playing school cricket.
12:16 So, in school cricket, the school I used to study in, there were kids, how do I say,
12:26 you understand, they were like a burger.
12:29 We basically call them mom and dad.
12:32 So, they were not so fond of sports, they used to play football, rowing, etc.
12:37 I was not interested in that, I was not interested in the game.
12:40 I said, "Sir, is there a cricket team in my school?"
12:42 They said, "Yes, there is."
12:43 I said, "Sir, I play cricket very well."
12:45 He said, "Okay."
12:47 Now, they took my entire trial.
12:49 When they saw it, they said, "Yes, he plays well."
12:52 So, I was playing the first tournament match of the school.
12:56 I scored like 213 in a T20 game.
12:59 So, from there, I told my dad that I want to play.
13:06 So, he was very strict in his studies in the beginning.
13:10 Because I had failed in a couple of subjects in a year or two.
13:15 You were very fond of it.
13:16 Because I was so fond of cricket that I used to bunk school for cricket.
13:20 So, according to that, my friends also supported me a lot in bunking.
13:27 So, they were very helpful.
13:30 So, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, I think there was a decision in school itself
13:35 where I was like, "Dad, I don't want to study anymore.
13:39 I can't study and I have no interest in studying."
13:43 So, they said, "Son, you have two or three years.
13:49 If you can do it, we will make you sit on the shop floor."
13:52 I said, "This is not possible."
13:55 But I was most thankful to Mr. Nadeem Umar here
14:00 who gave me that golden opportunity in the PSL to perform.
14:04 You were just taking the name of Chris Gayle when he picked you.
14:07 He said, "When Azam Khan will hit sixes on the ground, you will forget Chris Gayle."
14:12 So, at that time people asked him, "What are you saying?"
14:14 But five years, four years on, I think he wasn't way off the mark.
14:18 But hopefully, we will see a lot of those sixes from you.
14:21 Tell me, cricket, cricket, cricket, there is cricket at home as well.
14:24 There is cricket in the field as well.
14:26 How do you disconnect from the game?
14:28 The equipment of my cricket is not in my room.
14:31 When I am in my room, I have my drums in my room,
14:34 I have my keyboard in my room, I have my guitars in my room.
14:38 And when I am disconnected from the world,
14:40 I think music is the best therapy for me.
14:43 I play it and my friends come to my house to jam.
14:46 So, I think I spend three to four hours a day if I play music.
14:51 If I do it with passion, I enjoy it a lot.
14:54 And obviously, I know you play guitar yourself as well.
14:58 So, you will understand.
14:59 It is very therapeutic.
15:00 It is a therapy.
15:02 So, I enjoy it a lot.
15:04 And my mother was very fond of singing.
15:07 So, I think that is the only thing that I have got.
15:10 And we also do family karaoke at home.
15:13 So, I think it's a good thing to do.
15:15 And do you travel with your guitar on tour?
15:18 Always. Like, I don't think…
15:20 If I don't have a guitar on tour, I will buy a new one.
15:25 Honestly, I have around 9 to 10 guitars at home.
15:30 Because I am fond of electric music.
15:34 I mean, electric guitars as well.
15:37 But it's a bit expensive.
15:40 You are also fond of expensive things.
15:43 Like, you are fond of watches and sunglasses.
15:46 But I want to stay on music.
15:47 What are you listening to these days?
15:49 Honestly, I listen to anything.
15:51 Whatever my ears like.
15:53 Except for electronic music, I think I can listen to anything.
15:57 Like, I listen to jazz, pop, rock.
16:00 I listen to old rock a lot.
16:02 It's good.
16:03 Now, R&B has come a lot.
16:05 It's good.
16:06 There are Pakistani artists.
16:07 I listen to Pakistani artists a lot these days.
16:09 Which Pakistani artist's song is most played on your Spotify list?
16:13 I think the most played song is Hassan Rahim's 'Wishes'.
16:17 I think it's in collaboration with one of the Indian guys.
16:21 So, I think it's a good song.
16:23 And I listen to a lot of Asim's songs.
16:30 I think his new album will be released soon.
16:33 So, I listen to some of his songs.
16:36 So, it's a high pressure match.
16:38 You are sitting in the dressing room.
16:39 You are supposed to bat next.
16:41 Do you listen to music in the dressing room?
16:43 Honestly, there are so many restrictions.
16:47 Like, you can carry an iPod or not.
16:49 Because, you know, the anti-corruption unit takes your phones.
16:54 But, before going to the match, I have one song on my phone.
16:57 That is 'Starboy'.
16:59 I listen to it and go.
17:01 I say, "Okay, let's go."
17:03 You are motivated.
17:04 I am in the zone now.
17:05 Asim, you won CPL in 2023 with 'Gayana' in the West Indies.
17:09 Then, you won Domestic National T20 with 'Karachi Whites' in Pakistan.
17:14 Then, you won another championship, PSL.
17:17 So, are you ready to add another championship to this?
17:22 Inshallah, Imran.
17:24 It's a joy when you win a championship.
17:28 And, I think…
17:30 I have won three championships.
17:35 But, the one I enjoyed the most, I think that was the Pakistan Super League.
17:39 Because, it was like a dream for me.
17:43 Because, it was a tournament from where I started my career.
17:47 I mean, I have won before the Coeta Gladiators.
17:51 But, I never felt like a part of the team because I never played.
17:57 It's good.
17:58 Thanks to Nadeem uncle, Samra aunty.
18:00 She let me trade.
18:03 And, Islamabad United showed me so much trust that, yes, I can win them games.
18:09 And, in the end, when you invest in your players, they perform well.
18:16 So, I think winning the PSL was like a career highlighting moment for me.
18:21 I enjoyed it a lot because it was a partnership with Captial.
18:25 It was very important to do it at that time.
18:27 So, I think that partnership changed the game a little.
18:29 I got out at the wrong time.
18:31 I didn't think he was out.
18:32 But, he was like, "Who is he? He's my brother."
18:35 He did my work.
18:37 I think it was an intense match.
18:41 I mean, I didn't think I would lose.
18:44 It was like that because our momentum was so good in the tournament.
18:47 And, winning it, I think it was the best feeling ever.
18:52 Azam, are you excited to go to New York and play?
18:55 Yes, cricket.
18:57 Is it because of the ground or because of New York City?
19:00 New York City is one of my favorite cities in the world.
19:07 And, I enjoy going there a lot.
19:11 I have a lot of friends there who are studying.
19:14 You are very social.
19:16 I am very social.
19:17 It's a good thing that a person should be social.
19:21 Otherwise, he remains in a shell.
19:23 So, I don't want to stay in that shell.
19:25 So, I am very excited.
19:27 If God wills, I will be named for the World Cup.
19:30 We will enjoy it.
19:32 Azam, thank you for taking time out.
19:34 We wish you the very best.
19:35 Thank you for joining.
19:36 And, we hope that you will win all three championships.
19:40 And, if God wills, you will win the fourth championship in Pakistan.
19:43 And, we will hopefully catch up with you once you are back.
19:46 Definitely, if God wills.
19:47 Good bye.
19:48 Good bye.
19:49 [Music]