What's new

“One of the best Test hundreds and rearguard action I have ever seen” : Brian Lara on Azhar Ali 141*

A

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,825
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CERX8F7FIW2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CERX8F7FIW2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CERX8F7FIW2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Sunday morning I woke up thought I would watch some test cricket, CPL T20, golf and the UEFA champions league, literally spend the day on the couch. Captain [MENTION=148158]azharali[/MENTION]79_ batting to save his country a test match with no chance of winning pretty much dull cricket if he was to achieve it. But quite the opposite I was watching one of the best test hundreds and rearguard action I have ever seen. Two great partnerships with @iamfawadalam and Mohammed Rizwan but [MENTION=148158]azharali[/MENTION]79_ played one of the best captain’s knock in modern cricket. I know @tkriders won their CPL match but my remote remained untouched. Well played [MENTION=148158]azharali[/MENTION]79_ True captain’s knock! Well done @tkriders @djohnsonpga and @fcbayern #testcricket #sundays #engvpak #cpl #uefa</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brianlaraofficial/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Brian Lara</a> (@brianlaraofficial) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-08-24T12:07:19+00:00">Aug 24, 2020 at 5:07am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

High praise.
 
That's hyping tbh. He has been poor in last few years and I am saying this from Pakistan's point of view.
 
And we had people here who were sad because their favourties were replaced by him as captain and were hoping he would fail just so they could prove their point.

Great innings azhar, hopefully he will be back being consisstent.

Remember, axhar ali made his debut on english pitches and he scored well during his first england tour.

His critics has been hating him simce 2012, every year they critisize him, either for batting slow or what not.

Yes his form has been bad, but its not like he was being critisized from 2018 onwards. He has been critsized his whole career
 
It was a good innings. But, not sure if it was one of the best.

I rate his double century in Australia higher (a few years ago).
 
It was a fine knock but this praise from Lara is OTT.

We shouldn't forget that Azhar's counterpart at no.3 scored 267. If there's anyone who warrants an appearance on Brian Lara's insta, it is Zak Crawley.
 
Last edited:
I won't argue with the legend but you can't get carried away by one innings on a flat wicket. You have to look at Azhar's form over the last 3 years in its entirety.

I'm not taking anything away from Azhar, but I fear this knock will haunt us for another 1-2 years.
 
Markhor said:
I won't argue with the legend but you can't get carried away by one innings on a flat wicket. You have to look at Azhar's form over the last 3 years in its entirety.

I'm not taking anything away from Azhar, but I fear this knock will haunt us for another 1-2 years.
Click to expand...

Beauty in the eyes of the beholder type thing.

I am happy if he has fixed his technique - that could be good news for Pakistan
 
High praise from 2nd greatest batsman of all time.Brian Lara is a wonderful guy.He is the 2nd greatest batsman of all time after Viv Richards.
 
Was definitely a top knock and I dont think anybody can argue that Brian Lara knows a bit about cricket.
 
Butler made a 152 on the same wicket, he is an ODI player.

Too little too late, if Azhar made even 50 in the first test, we would have won it.

It was a career saving innings, Younis, Yousuf and other Pak batsmen seem to pull such innings out of the bag when their livelyhood is on the line. If only they play with such attitude in every match.

Lara is not a Pak fan, lets keep this in mind.
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

I think you know cricket better than Lara. Lara has a split personality I think. He was arrogant and mean as a player but he rates everything and everyone an ATG as a twitter man
 
Who is Lara to talk about batting when we have the opinions of the armchair experts.

These experts are great value as they are consistently proven wrong about almost every aspect of the game. So believe the opposite to what they are barking on about!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
KingKhanWC said:
Butler made a 152 on the same wicket, he is an ODI player.

Too little too late, if Azhar made even 50 in the first test, we would have won it.

It was a career saving innings, Younis, Yousuf and other Pak batsmen seem to pull such innings out of the bag when their livelyhood is on the line. If only they play with such attitude in every match.

Lara is not a Pak fan, lets keep this in mind.
Click to expand...

How many batsmen do well on the first match of an overseas tour, after a long break? Even England lost their first test to west indies after the break

A drawn match is worth 13 WC points. And it also means england gets less points on the table
 
So are we gonna forget 250 from a youngster in the first innings.
 
Last edited:
I’ve always rated Azhar Ali very highly as a batsman, top player and good to see he’s finally getting some praise.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Indiafan said:
How many batsmen do well on the first match of an overseas tour, after a long break? Even England lost their first test to west indies after the break

A drawn match is worth 13 WC points. And it also means england gets less points on the table
Click to expand...

A series win was on the line after the first test. Sure its never easy but he's no rookie but the most experienced batsmen, his form has been very poor in for a while now.

As a Pak fan, i've seen it too many times, career saving innings. Azhar should never been captain, too much pressure.

Scored a 100 because he played for a draw on a flat deck. Perhaps he needs to block the first 100 balls every time he plays , get in and then play some shots.
 
If you look in isolation it was a great innings
 
Great innings no doubt. Hopefully he starts considering retirement now. One good innings cannot hide his failures across 4 tours of SENA. He is past his prime and the management needs to realize that.
 
Lara also said, Indian bowling reminds him of Windies bowling of 80s-90s.

I dont disagree with any of the two Lara's statement though :))
 
Ab Fan said:
Lara also said, Indian bowling reminds him of Windies bowling of 80s-90s.

I dont disagree with any of the two Lara's statement though :))
Click to expand...

Oh for that he is clearly looking for an IPL contract
 
For non Pakistanis, Azhar Ali is the kind of nice-faced guy you like to praise, but probably wouldn't be too keen to watch if he were in your team.

But wow, that's high praise coming from Lara. Got to watch some highlights at least.

And if it's good, will even out the feeling by watching highlights from the 1st test :rabada2
 
Last edited:
Rana said:
Oh for that he is clearly looking for an IPL contract
Click to expand...

And here he is looking for PSL contract?

Dekho Bhai, let's agree to both statement of Lara. You also happy and we also happy. Cheers! :yk
 
Another great innings of Azhar that will not even draw the match. That’s been Azhar’s career.
 
Some usual suspects getting quite excited here while conveniently ignoring the context.

This is definitely high praise from Lara, but please note that he's commenting on this innings in isolation. No one is disputing the quality of this innings or disagreeing with Lara. This does not discredit or invalidate the criticism that Azhar has been getting. The criticism has been based on his performance over the last two years. He's been a complete passenger in the test side and this post by Lara does nothing to dispute that.

So, before labeling people as armchair critics or as "having more knowledge than Lara", please understand the context instead of just using a data point conveniently to justify your personal agenda.
 
Think Brian Lara is losing his memory.
Infact I dont even think this century was the best century of the test match let alone "ever". Dont know what Lara has been smoking recently.
 
Hope West Indies select him. Brian Lara has bestowed some lavish praises for a lot of non-performing jokes from Pakistan in the past.

Funny that the guy who has devastated the team with his captaincy and batting in last many tests is being showered praises for a useless 100 while the team is in danger of defeat by an innings.

Sarfraz and arthur were literally bashed left, right and centre. The segment that bashed him is giving compliments to a loser who has failed in last many tests and lead the side over the cliff. No cheapshots, no personal attacks for Azhar Ali or Misbah.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ZamanFan said:
Hope West Indies select him. Brian Lara has bestowed some lavish praises for a lot of non-performing jokes from Pakistan in the past.

Funny that the guy who has devastated the team with his captaincy and batting in last many tests is being showered praises for a useless 100 while the team is in danger of defeat by an innings.

Sarfraz and arthur were literally bashed left, right and centre. The segment that bashed him is giving compliments to a loser who has failed in last many tests and lead the side over the cliff. No cheapshots, no personal attacks for Azhar Ali or Misbah.
Click to expand...

Sarfraz was bashed for his poor form. If he would had gained form everyone would had been happy and no one would had complained.

Plus, sarfraz got dropped after his performance in a world cup that always will get extea scrutiny

When has personal attacks on any player ever been allowed?
 
High praise for Azhar, well done.

This is right up there with other memorable innings Azhar has played. The following are some of the good innings Azhar has played in test cricket.
- 302* vs WI - Abu Dhabi
- 205* vs AUS - Melbourne
- 141* vs ENG - Southampton
- 103 vs SL - Sharjah
- 92* vs ENG - Oval

The striking feature of all these great knocks is the ability to carry the bat. Even in 103 vs Sri Lanka he departed when the match was almost won.

No matter his current form, he has been a good servant of Pakistan cricket. Respect he deserves.
 
Azhar was a good servant as understudy to misyou ( it's not easy to bat in top 3 in tests) but I thought he had lost it last 2 years but wow what an innings.
Gives him more time definitely and why not
 
Azhar at one point when Misbah and YK retired was averaging close to 48 in test cricket, the fact his average right now in 2020 has fallen to 42 should tell you how horrible he has been with the bat in the last 3 years.

He is also a very limited one dimensional batsman who cannot shift gears according to the needs of the team and the game situation. Lol, who can forget his inability to handle the pressure of ten runs needed in 2 days with abbass at the non strikers end. He should owe his career to Misbah
 
Definitely his best innings. Considering the match situation, his individual struggles and facing a target of 583, he started from 30/4 with 3 genuine No. 11 at the bottom, he added almost 200 of which probably 2/3rd was his own runs. One of the best Test innings in UK for sure. If PAK avoids defeat here, instead of Crawly, my MoTM is Azhar.
 
High praise.

Azhar Ali proved a lot of people wrong, including me. Before this test I thought he was done and judging by the way he was batting it looked like it too. But the way he has adjusted his technique and the way he has batted in this test match has been nothing short of outstanding. We hadn't seen this kind of batting from him in years. Hopefully he maintains this form now.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't put too much stock from the words of a former great. I say that because many former players are disconnected from the modern game. If you asked Brian Lara West Indies Opening Pair he probably couldn't tell you.

Azhar batted as well as he has for a long time after he passed 50 in what was essentially a blowout if not for the impending rain.
 
I actually think one of Azhar's best innings is the 50 he hit in the 2017 Champions Trophy Final. His six down the ground to Ashwin IMO gave our batting unit confidence. If not for a run out he could have gone on to get a hundred.

Not playing ODIs has also not helped his career. Azhar was a fairly solid top order one day batsman who was discarded to accommodate Imam.
 
It was one of the best knocks I had seen from a Pakistani batsman. Apart from thankless and shameless Pakistani fans, the rest of us neutral test cricket aashiqs enjoyed it.

Long live test cricket.
 
I can understand why there are some fans who are concerned about the wider context and implications. But this was a very good Test match innings, no question about that at all — an exemplary captain’s knock in terms of leadership, skill, and mental strength.
 
What a amazing knock and as most posters on here calling on the haters I'm with you. Your buddy Misbah was right in making Azhar Captain. No one in the world would played such a ATG innings on such a difficult wicket. Misbah should make Azhar ODI captain too now. When series is over our captain plays the greatest innings ever to save his captaincy and test career. On Shan Masood thread people are calling for his head despite him also getting one century and that to in the first test and put Pakistan in a strong position to win that game. But because he failed in rest of his innings he batted people want him out but for Azhar Ali it's opposite. When game was their to be won he bottled it with bat and as captain. Failed all series and now one century and people are going crazy on here just to back their favourite Misbah and his buddy Azhar Ali.
 
unemployedgm said:
I wouldn't put too much stock from the words of a former great. I say that because many former players are disconnected from the modern game. If you asked Brian Lara West Indies Opening Pair he probably couldn't tell you.

Azhar batted as well as he has for a long time after he passed 50 in what was essentially a blowout if not for the impending rain.
Click to expand...

I would put stock in it - simply because he knows what it means to score under pressure.
 
Agree. Brilliant knock under extreme pressure. Albeit it was against a tired English attack on a flat wicket but that takes nothing away. Looked comfortable against that incoming delivery onto his pads which was his downfall so often this series.

Hope he turns things around and has a good last couple of years like YK did.
 
Sidilicious said:
And what happened to Bradman?
Click to expand...
If you genuinely believe the likes of Bradman, Trueman or any other pre WWll donny could compete with a bog average international cricketer from the modern era then I suggest you watch some YT clips.

On the issue of Azhar it was a good knock, but his time came two years ago. His reflexes are gone- and before someone points out that Archer was boiling 90mph, this was one of the slowest pitches in England I’ve seen for a long time. You don’t usually see the likes of Azhar playing short balls off the front foot on a normal paced wicket.
 
A flatter pitch, but he still was mentally tough enough to produce a gem of a knock
 
Good captain’s knock. Still got to see how he fares against extra bounce on quick wickets. We all remember the South Africa tour. He wasn’t getting out LBW there, was he!
 
I remember KL Rahul's 149 against England in the last inning of the 5th test. That test was a dead rubber and we lost it in the end. Lots of fans celebrated that inning and even today they celebrate it. He did nothing in the 9 innings before that, not even a fifty.

Compared to that Azhar Ali's 100 came in a test whose result can still change the outcome of this series. If it rains today then Azhar Ali's inning will become a match saving one. If Pakistan loses then we can say that he did try to save the test. It is not a dead rubber anyway. :inti
 
Last edited:
Ellipsism said:
If you genuinely believe the likes of Bradman, Trueman or any other pre WWll donny could compete with a bog average international cricketer from the modern era then I suggest you watch some YT clips.

On the issue of Azhar it was a good knock, but his time came two years ago. His reflexes are gone- and before someone points out that Archer was boiling 90mph, this was one of the slowest pitches in England I’ve seen for a long time. You don’t usually see the likes of Azhar playing short balls off the front foot on a normal paced wicket.
Click to expand...

You can never compare between eras. You never know how the particular batsman would have adapted had he played in this era. Its like saying that NEwton would not have been able to compete with a Stephen Hawking, because one was an expert in quantum mechanics and the other didnt know what quantum theory. The only way you can compare players of different eras, is by comparing them to their contemporaries. And Bradman was so far ahead of his contemporaries, that he is clearly the greatest of them all.

As for Azhar, no one is claiming that it was a Laxmanesque, Gilchristesque or a Graeme Smith esque feedback. However, it was not just a 'good' knock. It was a hell of a knock. Not many other Pakistani batsmen of the last 20 years would have been able to play that. If the pitch was so easy, then the other batsmen around him would not have folded like a pack of cards.

Having said that, Azhar should retire after this series. He will not be producing such innings with high consistency.
 
MenInG said:
I would put stock in it - simply because he knows what it means to score under pressure.
Click to expand...

Put stock in it just not too much. By that I mean lets not give Azhar a free pass for being absent for close to three years. When Brian Lara makes that statement it gives Misbah, Azhar, and the Board more of an opportunity to keep going with a failing strategy.
 
Extra_Cover said:
High praise for Azhar, well done.

This is right up there with other memorable innings Azhar has played. The following are some of the good innings Azhar has played in test cricket.
- 302* vs WI - Abu Dhabi
- 205* vs AUS - Melbourne
- 141* vs ENG - Southampton
- 103 vs SL - Sharjah
- 92* vs ENG - Oval

The striking feature of all these great knocks is the ability to carry the bat. Even in 103 vs Sri Lanka he departed when the match was almost won.

No matter his current form, he has been a good servant of Pakistan cricket. Respect he deserves.
Click to expand...

His 139 at Edgbaston, Birmingham in 2016 was also a top knock considering England had just scored a decent 1st innings score of 300. Pressure was certainly on and he delivered. Pity we lost that test match otherwise he could have been MOTM.
 
So many PPers rightly feel the praise from Lara was OTT.

I mean what do old timers like Lara know anyway?

And why would a Pakistani player deserve praise at all?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MenInG
Virat Kohli 'NOT okay' with 'appalling' invasion of privacy at Perth team hotel
Replies
56
Views
7K
PakLFC
P
MenInG
[PICTURES/VIDEOS] Shan Masood's engagement and marriage
Replies
18
Views
2K
Rana
Rana
E
[PICTURES] KL Rahul - Athiya Shetty tie the knot
Replies
29
Views
3K
Vikram1989
V
MenInG
Wasim Akram's son, Tahmoor Akram, is a MMA Fighter!
Replies
20
Views
3K
daytrader
daytrader
Colorblind Genius
India demolishes 500-year-old historic mosque to widen road
Replies
29
Views
2K
Champ_Pal
C
Back
Top