How Azam Khan used trolls about his weight for motivation?

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan has revealed that he used trolls and cruel nicknames to motivate himself and overcome the challenges he faced because of his relatively overweight physique.

Azam, who is the son of former Pakistan cricketer Moin Khan, wrote words like "aloo [potato], laddu [a sweet], haathi [Elephant], fatso and big boy" on scraps of paper and posted them to his wall.

"My dad was like, 'Are you mad, why are you doing this to yourself?' I said, 'This is giving me motivation'," the batter told ESPNcricinfo's Cricket Monthly.

Azam made his professional debut with Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where his father Moin serves as the head coach.

The 24-year-old was then the target of harsh criticism after it was claimed that he was selected for the team by his father.

In the 2019 PSL season, he only appeared in one game for them, although he scored 12 runs off 15 balls.

Azam was so offended by the accusations that he recorded them in writing in his private area.

"People will always judge me because my father has played for Pakistan but it's not my fault I was born at his house. But after I got my chance in the PSL, people criticised me because I was overweight and said my body is not suited for the elite game [level] of cricket," he said.

For his aggressive batting style and positive intent, Azam is in high demand in franchise leagues around the world.

Azam thought he had disproven them a year later. He scored a game-winning 59 from 33 balls in the 2020 PSL's opening game for the Gladiators.

However, he had not done enough, as the season had produced no further notable scores. He even came to the realisation that, despite his confidence in his own ability to score runs, he needed to leverage the benefits of physical activity and the significance of appearance.

He spent the following year trying to conform to a sporting ideal. At National High Performance Centre in Lahore, some of that time was spent on an exercise and diet regimen. He spent a lot more time improving his aerobic capacity in the gym. In a year, Azam shed 30 kg.

Azam was roped in by Islamabad United from Quetta Gladiators ahead of the PSL Draft in December 2021 prior to the seventh edition of the PSL.

The batter was brilliant for Islamabad United in the PSL 2022 as he scored 296 in 11 at a healthy strike rate of 141.62.

Following his successful stint with the United in PSL 7, the wicketkeeper-batter was retained by the franchise in the Gold category ahead of the eighth edition of the tournament.

International cricket

Despite his high regard and rise in the T20 leagues worldwide, Azam has not been able to make a name in international cricket as he has not been part of the national T20 side after playing three T20Is against England in 2021.

Azam was initially selected for the Pakistani team for the 2021 T20 World Cup but was abruptly dropped in favour of Sarfaraz Ahmed due to "certain performance criteria," though he doesn't specify what they were.

He was not even mentioned in the discussion on the 2022 competition.

Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed harshly criticised Azam for his physique and told local media that Azam should either "leave cricket or turn himself into a cricketer."

"It's not about being overweight. It's about performance. If a guy is scoring 400 runs and he is super-fit and another guy is scoring 800 runs and he is not super-fit, I will keep the guy who scored 800 runs in my team. That's my point of view," Azam said.

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