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Azhar Ali’s captaincy in the Test series against England (2020)

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MenInG

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Getting lot of respect for bowling and fielding settings so good start (batting is a problem!)

Shane Warne very happy with his captaincy as well.
 
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I think this series will determine if he stays on not only as a captain but as a batsmen. It’s time to move fwd and pick a new captain and batsmen. Not sure if that’s Azam or someone else but We need a new #3. I’ll give Imam a go and see what he can do. Def better then a duck that’s for sure.
 
Looked very good & proactive today, his captaincy was disastrous in Australia, but he's getting better at it.

But he needs to score runs, otherwise this won't last long maybe not even past this series
 
I really hope he gets his batting form back and we have a great performing captain at our hands.
 
So far so good miunus his batting. Although the decision to not give an over or two to Shadab towards the end, from the same end Yasir was bowling from or bringing him from the other end, was quite possibly a very dumb decision...Shadab's googly turns a lot and he is unconventional as well (compared to the rinse and repeat dull Yasir). I mean, at the end of the day, facing someone the batsmen may have not faced in a long time (or never) could have given us a chance for another wicket or two!
 
Monsee said:
So far so good miunus his batting. Although the decision to not give an over or two to Shadab towards the end, from the same end Yasir was bowling from or bringing him from the other end, was quite possibly a very dumb decision...Shadab's googly turns a lot and he is unconventional as well (compared to the rinse and repeat dull Yasir). I mean, at the end of the day, facing someone the batsmen may have not faced in a long time (or never) could have given us a chance for another wicket or two!
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Agreed but that's being super critical
 
I will give it 7. Very proactive and bold call at the toss. However Too aggressive at times - particularly in keeping field up to Yasir and bringing keeper up to Abbas. Good for couple of overs but he should not give easy runs away or make bowlers change their lines. Root did that and changed the game.
 
Corridor of Uncertainty said:
I will give it 7. Very proactive and bold call at the toss. However Too aggressive at times - particularly in keeping field up to Yasir and bringing keeper up to Abbas. Good for couple of overs but he should not give easy runs away or make bowlers change their lines. Root did that and changed the game.
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Commies were being too critical of root.

Root had reasons for doing that. New ball was going to be availible in 8 overs and stokes wasnt available tp bowl. If stokes could bowl than they should had went for him.

Now in hindsight the new ball didnt acted the way we were expecting. But after the 88th over, root had a different plan. The plan became to get shadab khan out by making him play a rash shot, thus from one end a spinner was employed.

Now remember, during this time, i think shan it was shan who was again dropped for an edge of bess. However, the plan was to get shadab to play a rash shot and that is what he exactly did and gave away his wicket.
If shadab wasnt targetted like that he could had got Pakistan across 350
 
Corridor of Uncertainty said:
I will give it 7. Very proactive and bold call at the toss. However Too aggressive at times - particularly in keeping field up to Yasir and bringing keeper up to Abbas. Good for couple of overs but he should not give easy runs away or make bowlers change their lines. Root did that and changed the game.
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Lol I rather have the field up then keep it back for easy singles as for keeper up that was the right idea and tactics
 
So another specialist captain after sarfraz?
 
shamaan said:
Agreed but that's being super critical
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Not really, when Yasir was busy releasing the pressure and being spanked by a very fresh new batsman like Pope, he should have taken him off and tried something different; at the rate Yasir was leaking runs, he would give away 150 runs in no time and actually tilt the match in England's favor in a flash!

This is exactly what Safraz used to do as well i.e. over bowling Yasir when it would be real clear he is not doing well, not really sure what sort of bold tatics are these that many here are raving about. Toss is history and so is team selection, we cannot continue celebrating those decisions while God forbid match slips out of our hands.
 
Azhar Ali is a decent Test captain

I know his form has been shaky lately but everyone outside Pakistan rate him very highly as a batsman.

That’s a different debate anyways but since yesterday his captaincy has been spot on.

Even today though it has so far been England’s session, he has maintained good pressure. Every over there seems to be something happening.

I think his captaincy has been spot on. Not sure if it is Misbah and co influence but still he has to implement on field.

I know right now Pakistan fans don’t have high regards for him but at least appreciate him when he is doing well.
 
I think we get swayed by people’s persona and their behavior.

In Indian for example Rohit is a more aggressive captain than Virat but people tend to think the other way round because of their personality.

I am disappointed that not a single acknowledgement of his captaincy.

I think we have another Misbah on our hands, Cant just win over fans no matter what he does.
 
Definitely. I’ve enjoyed his captaincy so far, hasn’t let up the pressure. Although small things stick out like not bowling Shadab in the last 10 mins yesterday or the last 15 mins before lunch today instead of Shaheen, who he should have been resting.

That being said, you can tell that the flip side is he’s backing his pacers to come good and wants to keep attacking, rather than let them settle against the spinners (Yasir being quite loose especially and Shadab an unknown factor).
 
Needs more players around the bat for Yasir Shah now.
 
Havent watched the game earlier enough to give enough comments. Watching the game now and from the scorecard i see yasir got wickets and pitch is turning, wouldnt be bowling shadab this late. As i type shadab takes a wicket in his second over. Eng could have been bowled out even lesser may 30 to 40 runs lesser than they have scored now. Hope he learns and corrects it in the 2nd inns.. Anyway Stokes is the only guy who can save this test for poms
 
ask_analyse_act said:
Havent watched the game earlier enough to give enough comments. Watching the game now and from the scorecard i see yasir got wickets and pitch is turning, wouldnt be bowling shadab this late. As i type shadab takes a wicket in his second over. Eng could have been bowled out even lesser may 30 to 40 runs lesser than they have scored now. Hope he learns and corrects it in the 2nd inns.. Anyway Stokes is the only guy who can save this test for poms
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Exactly my point, in the last 20-30 minutes yesterday night, Azhar should have tried out Shadab and
again today before lunch! Yasir is bit straight forward as a leggie unless ball is spinning miles, Shadab on the other hand is a very modern leggie...who can entice with some loose balls and then sneak in a great one just like that. It didn't take him long to prove my point either :-)

Plus, Azhar is quite a decent leggie himself who has a not too shabby Sangakara as a wickets with a wicked googly...but for some reason he does not bowl as often as some of would like!
 
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3.3 overs, 13 runs, and 2 wickets for Shadab, I am quite sure England would have been out within 150-175 if Shadab was brought on last night 20-30 minutes before close...this is what I complained about Azhar's captaincy yesterday. I have seen similar trends from Sarfraz/Misbah/others as well i.e. they over rely on their main spinner/fast bowlers and are some times caught napping when a simple change of bowling or trying something different could have yielded results!

This is where captains like Imran would try Muddassar, Salim Malik, Miandad etc. to try and buy a wicket if nothing else is working out in a certain part of the game
 
Since Azhar doesnt attack at all by nature, when he attacks a little bit ppl are seeing it as a great achievement. What a stupid captaincy to have 2 spinners in a turning pitch and bowl only 1. I would even expect him to give overs to himself and asad if no 2nd spinner on a spin helping pitch like this one. England must have been allout for less than 150 if shadab bowled earlier. Dumb captain as always nothing gonna change with this yes man misbah
 
Holding back Shadab so late when Yasir is doing so well was difficult to understand
 
Monsee said:
3.3 overs, 13 runs, and 2 wickets for Shadab, I am quite sure England would have been out within 150-175 if Shadab was brought on last night 20-30 minutes before close...this is what I complained about Azhar's captaincy yesterday. I have seen similar trends from Sarfraz/Misbah/others as well i.e. they over rely on their main spinner/fast bowlers and are some times caught napping when a simple change of bowling or trying something different could have yielded results!

This is where captains like Imran would try Muddassar, Salim Malik, Miandad etc. to try and buy a wicket if nothing else is working out in a certain part of the game
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oh bhai.

stop giving anaylsis after not watching the whole innings, and just looking at score cards or just a few overs.

Shadab wasn't needed to bowl during the whole innings.

On day 2, the pacers were taking wickets. Shaheen's economy was 1ish and abbas had bowled well. Naseem got his spell, and after taht yasir. Than day was over. Yasir had picked up a wicekt

Next day, it was stupid to start your attack with spin, cause new day, fresh batsmen. So the attack was started with pace. Naseem and Abbas was bowling soo beutifully that in the first session of day 3 they barely gave away any runs.

After that, yasir was bought in, with pace from one end cause the pace was still troubling the batsmen. Yasir was taking wickets.

By bringing shadab, that would had taken all the pressure off.

When Broad started to attack, it would had been beter giving hte ball to naseem or shaheen. Yet SHadab got his chance and he got the wickets.

Stop giving analysis without watching the game plz
 
funny how people use to terms like dumb and go on to critisize Azhar. Yet this people dont watch full games. Only tune in for few overs or read score cards and start giving opinions on the Captiancy.

Anyone who saw the whole game would know the pressure being applied by the pacers that 2 spinners were not needed. Shadab only became a need later in the innings.

Yasir took the wicket of root and buttler for gods sake
 
Wasim Akram asking for close in fielder - is Azhar Ali missing a trick here?
 
True test today for Azhar.

So far a bit flat and not willing to experiment.

Yasir Shah or bust.
 
Always been flat. There's nothing to 'analyse' here because Azhar doesn't come across as a character. Well-done to Nasser for bringing this under the spotlight.
 
Energy said:
Always been flat. There's nothing to 'analyse' here because Azhar doesn't come across as a character. Well-done to Nasser for bringing this under the spotlight.
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Goes with the narrative that the decision making is being done by Misbah. Azhar is an on-field proxy
 
Think Pakistan lacking in their homework about Sibley - being pointed out in the commentary.
 
For ppl who praised his captaincy will see how his captaincy will screw this match gifting to eng 277 very easily.
 
<a href="https://freeimage.host/"><img src="https://iili.io/dEMvPS.jpg" alt="dEMvPS.jpg" border="0"></a>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Words that are not typed very often - that was a brilliant review by Pakistan <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EngvPak?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EngvPak</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1292100262027505664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Major said:
oh bhai.

stop giving anaylsis after not watching the whole innings, and just looking at score cards or just a few overs.

Shadab wasn't needed to bowl during the whole innings.

On day 2, the pacers were taking wickets. Shaheen's economy was 1ish and abbas had bowled well. Naseem got his spell, and after taht yasir. Than day was over. Yasir had picked up a wicekt

Next day, it was stupid to start your attack with spin, cause new day, fresh batsmen. So the attack was started with pace. Naseem and Abbas was bowling soo beutifully that in the first session of day 3 they barely gave away any runs.

After that, yasir was bought in, with pace from one end cause the pace was still troubling the batsmen. Yasir was taking wickets.

By bringing shadab, that would had taken all the pressure off.

When Broad started to attack, it would had been beter giving hte ball to naseem or shaheen. Yet SHadab got his chance and he got the wickets.

Stop giving analysis without watching the game plz
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Well not giving Shadab enough overs even when it is spinning is obviously a bad captaincy. Again also today in the 4th day wicket as u can see how much turn and bounce Yasir is getting. Playing 5 bowlers is a very good idea where they can keep the wicket taking bowlers afresh. With this bowling line up Pak has and also the offering that they get from the pitch I expect England to not bat more than 50 overs to the max.

As you can see Pak couldn’t last 50 overs in their 2nd inns. Here in the 2nd inns for eng the pacers didn’t get much from the pitch but Yasir is getting more than enough so why exhaust the pacers early when Shadab is there, by doing so you can keep the pacers fresh when reverse swing will be on offer.



Playing 10 years of test cricket and still not good enough to judge is unacceptable
 
Saj said:
True test today for Azhar.

So far a bit flat and not willing to experiment.

Yasir Shah or bust.
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Don’t understand the point of playing 2 spinners and using only one. It is obviously turning and England at the moment have a very young batting line up and overall poor players of spin.
 
Counter attacked and pushed fielders away and continuing with wat was asked by Misbah ..ppl calling him his captaincy is good can see the full display of it now how pathetic it is.
 
Lively pitch with hell lot on offer for bowlers, bowlers doing their bit by taking wickets , England battling hard with some good batting and counter punch. Azhar as a captain looks lost.
 
Azhar started well, but looks passive on the field waiting for things to happen after lunch. Has allowed Buttler, Woakes some easy runs.

Hopefully Abbas, Shadab can repair the damage after tea.
 
Prince of Pakistan said:
Azhar started well, but looks passive on the field waiting for things to happen after lunch. Has allowed Buttler, Woakes some easy runs.

Hopefully Abbas, Shadab can repair the damage after tea.
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Things were working for Azhar by following Misbah's plan but that Shaheen's over was when he should have realized things needed to change and should have reacted.

It's like he is following a script and doesn't dare to defy,
 
Does Azhar realise it is Day 3 ? He’s setting a field and game plan is so defensive almost as if thinks they might shake hands and agree on a draw by 6pm.
 
It's all been a bit too friendly and wait and see, instead if getting in the faces of England and unsettling Buttler and Woakes.
 
The guy has been a disaster. Don't think you would know who is the captain on the field unless it was pointed out.

Chicken.
 
Saj said:
It's all been a bit too friendly and wait and see, instead if getting in the faces of England and unsettling Buttler and Woakes.
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No homework done on Woakes - someone needs to answer for that.
 
bring fielders closer when Yasir is bowling. Wat a mental midget after playing 10 years of test cricket. Absolute chicken on the field as a captain
 
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Mediocre as always a puppet captain it seems have to say this even Sarfraz was more inspiring than Azhar
 
Haven't seen a captain change field each time a boundary is hit.
 
Saj said:
It's all been a bit too friendly and wait and see, instead if getting in the faces of England and unsettling Buttler and Woakes.
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Im sure he simply waits for instructions from the coaching camp. With Misbah around as head coach, i highly doubt he has much say in anything.
 
And the edge lands short of babar at slip.
While the commies have been at it all day saying the slips are standing too deep. But ofcourse what do these idiots know.
 
4th day of match with pitch turning so much and spinners have taken only 2 wickets looks bowlers fault but it is actually the captain
 
I think Abbas was over-bowled earlier and Shaheen's earlier spell was too long.
 
Azhar's captaincy was actually very good for most of the match. But as soon as Woakes came out and he counterattacked along with Butler he looked absolutely clueless. The plan was just wait it out, they'll give their wicket away soon. Even when the lead kept shrinking the field was spread out giving away easy singles, nothing out of the box was tried out. Try bodyline, use Abbas with the field up to completely choke the runs, give Shan Masood a few overs with any sort of field he wants. Do something at least.
 
This thread was so premature...

His captaincy has been insipid
 
Oh Azhar, such a sad and pathetic captain.

Let's see for how much more long we have to endure this pathetic cricketer.

Yet another passenger in our XI. Can't bat, can't field and can't defend 250+ :facepalm:
 
He isn't a strong character nor has he been able to lead by example with his performances.

Tbf i don't really blame Azhar i blame whoever decided to stick him in charge.
 
hitthestump said:
He isn't a strong character nor has he been able to lead by example with his performances.

Tbf i don't really blame Azhar i blame whoever decided to stick him in charge.
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And that's the PCB. They replaced one non-performing captain with another non-performing captain.
 
Summer Joe: "Wasim Akram laying into Azhar Ali's captaincy on air and I believe rightly so" It's not been the most imaginative, I grant you...
 
Well the team is essentially captained by Misbah ul Haq from upstairs who is is pathetic in his own very right.
 
After being a failure of a captain in ODIs, why on earth is Azhar Ali captain again in tests?

Yes I know they are two different formats.

But he has been a strategic failure in ODIs already, letting go of dominant positions to let the opposition come back from the brink and win. (Think NZ ODI where we had them like 20 or 30 with a couple wickets down)

And yet again he has let the match slip from his fingers with lazy and robotic captaincy in tests. Credit to England for the fight back ofc.

More than blaming him I blame whatever committee voted for him to be captain knowing he doesn’t think like a captain.

Why does he keep getting selected as a captain?
 
I suppose Misbah likes him, and these days whatever Misbah says is the law of the land.
 
Because he is weak and they want a puppet in charge

He does not deserve a place in the team as a batsman. Remember Mark Taylor? Taylor was a brilliant captain who was out of form with the bat. Despite his captaincy, the Australian public wanted him dropped due to his poor form with the bat. It wasn't until he regained his form (to some extent) did they stop calling for his removal.

Azhar and Shafiq have no business being in the team but seniority culture rules. Younis himself benefited form seniority culture when he forced his way into the team.
 
The more I saw Azhar on the field today, the more pity I felt for him. Doesn't seem like a man who wants it.
 
we got outplayed. Dont think azhar could had done much as a captain.

Yes his batting form is poor

But now we will all bash his captaincy in hindsight.

Remember one thing, Woakes and Buttler made very little mistake.

THe only mistake Azhar probably made in hindsight was not bowling more of shadab in the 2nd innings. But i say this after having the privileged of knowing that other bowlers did nothing.
 
Major said:
we got outplayed. Dont think azhar could had done much as a captain.

Yes his batting form is poor

But now we will all bash his captaincy in hindsight.

Remember one thing, Woakes and Buttler made very little mistake.

THe only mistake Azhar probably made in hindsight was not bowling more of shadab in the 2nd innings. But i say this after having the privileged of knowing that other bowlers did nothing.
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They didn't need to. He allowed them very easy singles for a long period.
 
That is a catch for third slip, there was nothing to lose with 4 runs to win with the new ball still couldn’t have fielders in there to catch. Had enough of this clown chicken whatever you call it. Sack him ASAP. Can’t score can’t captain can’t motivate the bowlers. Loser in all facets of the game.
 
Full credit to England. This is why a lot of us said we need a lead of 300 to be safe for them to chase, but some simple folks were like “200 will be enough for this England line up” lol, this is exactly why.

An inexperienced attack + an incompetent captain. I’m actually very pleased with our attack, it is a bit raw but the ability and potential for growth is there. The captain is trash though, no hope for improvement and he is playing a year past retirement trying to be the next Younis or Misbah to play till 40.
 
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