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

You could hear by the tone of Wasim Akram's voice that he was fuming at Azhar Ali's captaincy.
 
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.


No matter he lose 100 tests you will still back him as he was appointed by your fav Misbah. This fanatic mentally is sickening and have done more harm to Pak than good.
 
One word: abject. He was utterly clueless when it mattered.
 
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?

Honest question for PCB.

Azhar oversaw Pakistan's slide to 9th in ODI rankings, masterminded a 3-0 whitewash defeat to Bangladesh for the first time ever, and is on his last legs as a batsman.

He averaged 9 in South Africa, 12 overseas since retirements of Misbah and Younis, and 28 overall.

If this isn't the epitome of favouritism, then what explains his appointment ?
 
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.

Two slips and a gully is Azhar's go-to field.
 
England were 117/5

Thanks to our genius captain we lost.

He has lost at least 3-5 games fielding with the opposition down a handful of wickets across 2 formats. Most captains make that kind of error once, he continues to do so with his “try not to lose” / “safety first” cowardly captaincy.
 
Honest question for PCB.

Azhar oversaw Pakistan's slide to 9th in ODI rankings, masterminded a 3-0 whitewash defeat to Bangladesh for the first time ever, and is on his last legs as a batsman.

He averaged 9 in South Africa, 12 overseas since retirements of Misbah and Younis, and 28 overall.

If this isn't the epitome of favouritism, then what explains his appointment ?

Indeed. Misbah as a coach cum selector with 0 experience in both areas also need to be added here along with that.
 
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.

you can say this in hindsight.
 
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.

Oh please. I have always supported Azhar but he played a huge role in this defeat. Contributed nothing with the bat and his captaincy was appalling.
 
Not sure what Azhar Ali could have done, when his pace bowlers just couldn't bowl properly, and decided to have a net.
 
Not gonna happen with Misbah in charge. If we had MA continue as coach we wouldn’t be seeing Azhar in the team even with the form he is with the bat let alone be captain. Doomed for another 5 years I guess.

Misbah and azhar combo is a recipe for disaster
 
Absolute rubbish, when things got tough he hid away, too slow in thinking and clueless on any tactics when things are going awry!
 
I also feel he needs to talk to his bowlers more.

Shaheen in particular kept going around the wicket and changing things up to quickly. These young guys needs a calm head telling them to keep it simple and hit that consistent channel. Nadeem’s wicket of root was a prime example.

Azhar was also useless in rotating his bowlers. Shadab was hardly used. It was like we were playing with 4 bowlers and a part timer. No rest for our fast bowlers.
 
He looks woefully out of form and hasn’t demonstrated the temperament when required.
That horrific second innings collapse handed it to England and he should have stepped up and played a captain’s innings.
Azhar needs to be dropped on batting form alone.
 
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.

His captaincy was on point for most of the match but there's no getting around the fact that he messed up against Woakes and Butler. He didn't know how to deal with a counter attack and played right into their hands. Butler just said that he knew he couldn't last on the wicket so they decided to play it like a one day game.
 
Like Naseer Hussain said we lost the game yesterday.
Why didn’t they pepper Woakes knowing he’s weak against the shortfall?
Poor captaincy and poor batting and too much reliance on Babar.
Azhar you either step up your game or resign. You’ve embarrassed us too often.
 
Like Naseer Hussain said we lost the game yesterday.
Why didn’t they pepper Woakes knowing he’s weak against the shortfall?
Poor captaincy and poor batting and too much reliance on Babar.
Azhar you either step up your game or resign. You’ve embarrassed us too often.

Nope. Had they cruised to the win with regular partnerships then you could have said this.

117-5 with Root and Stokes back in the pavilion. We lost it on the field today bud.

Batting is big big point. But separate point. Two separate glaring f ups.
 
Misbah and azhar combo is a recipe for disaster

The Misbah and Misbah combo. I do feel that this series will not keep dissenters quiet. Misbah has had it 3-0 in Australia and now this. NZD up next I think?
 
We lost because of rigid/unimaginative captaincy, end of it. Doing the same thing all throughout the day even when it was clear that it wasnt working.
Any captain/think tank with 2 working brain cells wouldve tried something else. Get a short leg in, come around the wicket and bombard Woakes with bouncers.. I can guarantee you, he wouldnt have survived 5 overs.
 
His captaincy was on point for most of the match but there's no getting around the fact that he messed up against Woakes and Butler. He didn't know how to deal with a counter attack and played right into their hands. Butler just said that he knew he couldn't last on the wicket so they decided to play it like a one day game.

Azhar has never been a confident character and his batting woes have made him even more nervous and defensive. His captaincy was decent in the first innings but the way the bowlers bowled in the first innings he didn't need to do much. When it actually mattered he was totally clueless. When Buttler and Woakes counterattacked he didn't do much and let them. More importantly, the first 20-30 minutes post tea were where he really lost the match. He set a one day field and let Buttler and Woakes get 30 of the easiest runs they will ever score. By the time he woke up, there were just 50-60 runs left to defend and despite a valiant effort by Yasir it just wasn't enough. He also didn't bother to talk with his players or offer any advice and looked nervous and defeated. I am also appalled by how Pakistan bowled at Woakes. Here is a guy who always performs against Pakistan and who is known to have a short ball problem. Yet, barring one over from Naseem and one ball by Abbas Pakistan did not bother testing him with short stuff. And on both those occasions he looked uncomfortable.
 
Not much to criticise Azhar for. I felt he should have brought Shadab on early on day 2 when Yasir wasn't bowling well even though he picked up Root.
He only went to Shadab in desperation in the first innings and the 50 runs the last 2 England wickets put on were key.
Ultimately we lost it with our second innings where even another 50 runs would have allowed more attacking fields for longer.
 
We lost because of rigid/unimaginative captaincy, end of it. Doing the same thing all throughout the day even when it was clear that it wasnt working.
Any captain/think tank with 2 working brain cells wouldve tried something else. Get a short leg in, come around the wicket and bombard Woakes with bouncers.. I can guarantee you, he wouldnt have survived 5 overs.

This is true. No matter how confident you are, 4th innings batting is challenging and slightest hint of pressure can get you. Azhar Ali and Pakistan made a cake for them to bat in ODI mode.

These guys were so calculated, they ensured they went at 4rpo so that the new ball wouldn't become a problem because there won't be any runs left. How on earth can a skipper not pick this?
 
Azhar ali record as captain.

7 Matches

Vs Australia 2 matches batting avg 15.5
Vs England 1 match batting avg 9.00
Vs newzeland 1 match batting avg 29.5

Vs bangladesh 1 match batting avg 34
vs srilanka 2 matches batting avg 51

Definition of a non performing captain.
 
Ultimately we lost it with our second innings where even another 50 runs would have allowed more attacking fields for longer.
Whilst there is no excuse for that collapse in the second innings, England were 117/5 at one point today. There is really no way they should have been allowed to go on and win the match from there and that too with 3 wickets still in hand.
Also normally with Pakistan, we have a couple of drop catches to blame the defeat on. This time there were none.

The planning showed in the last 2 hours was just impossible to fanthom. Even in the West indies series, a team with far fewer resources knew how to bowl at Woakes. He doesnt play the short ball well at all. And we had two guys capable of bowling in high 80s. Yet not for a single over was this employed.it was so obvious that we had 4 different commies comment on it throughout the day.. But obviously what do those idiots know.

In the end England chased down the highest score in the last 2 decades against Pakistan to win a Test match. That too after needing 150 plus to win with just 5 wickets in hand. Quite extraordinary
 
Azhar's captaincy has been as uninspiring as his batting. It seems he is past his prime as a batsman.
His captaincy looks unimaginative and way too lay back.
 
We lost because of rigid/unimaginative captaincy, end of it. Doing the same thing all throughout the day even when it was clear that it wasnt working.
Any captain/think tank with 2 working brain cells wouldve tried something else. Get a short leg in, come around the wicket and bombard Woakes with bouncers.. I can guarantee you, he wouldnt have survived 5 overs.

Exactly. I watched every Test England played in the Caribbean in 2019 and Woakes was all at sea against the WI quicks when they pitched it short.

Azhar, Misbah and Waqar time and again prove, either as captain or coach, they fail to do their homework against opposition teams. They wing it and hope for the best.
 
Exactly. I watched every Test England played in the Caribbean in 2019 and Woakes was all at sea against the WI quicks when they pitched it short.

Azhar, Misbah and Waqar time and again prove, either as captain or coach, they fail to do their homework against opposition teams. They wing it and hope for the best.

You would think they would have done their homework seeing as they arrived here so long ago lol
 
Not much to criticise Azhar for. I felt he should have brought Shadab on early on day 2 when Yasir wasn't bowling well even though he picked up Root.
He only went to Shadab in desperation in the first innings and the 50 runs the last 2 England wickets put on were key.
Ultimately we lost it with our second innings where even another 50 runs would have allowed more attacking fields for longer.

U can make mistakes early on but tend to get better correcting them as you go. It is a simple an easy thing for any captain to have close fielders in for a new batsman. If nothing is offered from the pitch then ask bowlers to do some chin music. Bowlers in SSA and NS are young enough but this guy who played for 10 years is just like someone who has a senior walking through his work for 10 years and suddenly when the senior calls sick, the guy doesn’t know the path to get work done.
 
Whilst there is no excuse for that collapse in the second innings, England were 117/5 at one point today. There is really no way they should have been allowed to go on and win the match from there and that too with 3 wickets still in hand.
Also normally with Pakistan, we have a couple of drop catches to blame the defeat on. This time there were none.

The planning showed in the last 2 hours was just impossible to fanthom. Even in the West indies series, a team with far fewer resources knew how to bowl at Woakes. He doesnt play the short ball well at all. And we had two guys capable of bowling in high 80s. Yet not for a single over was this employed.it was so obvious that we had 4 different commies comment on it throughout the day.. But obviously what do those idiots know.

In the end England chased down the highest score in the last 2 decades against Pakistan to win a Test match. That too after needing 150 plus to win with just 5 wickets in hand. Quite extraordinary
Wait for some more gifts of remarkable breakthroughs With this loser coach and his puppet as captain.
 
Exactly. I watched every Test England played in the Caribbean in 2019 and Woakes was all at sea against the WI quicks when they pitched it short.

Azhar, Misbah and Waqar time and again prove, either as captain or coach, they fail to do their homework against opposition teams. They wing it and hope for the best.

It was baffling really. One wonders if anyone in the coaching staff listen to the commentary in the match. Even if you're so inept that you have done no homework on the opposition atleast try to pick up on whats been blatantly said again and again.. Akram mentioned it, then Nasser, then Holding, then Warne. Was no one listening to this in the dressing room? Or when they kept mentioning that the slips were too deep and that Rizwan was taking every ball around ankle high when Naseem was bowling.

Woakes played 2 innings in the last series. He was out first ball the first time and then made 1 off 8 balls in the next. They knew exactly what to do with him. And thats WestIndies, a team with far less financial resources or manpower compared to us.
 
It seemed like Azhar had surrendered the arm band by the end ! looked to me as if Yasir Shah had enough and took over ! to me, he just doesn't seem like the sort of bloke who has the right character to lead a Test side, I could be wrong
 
I think azhar was expecting the pitch to have more wear to offer something for the bowlers but as there was nothing and it went flat he ran out of ideas. So what will happen if we play in Sri Lanka or uae? He doesn’t seem to have any plans, take any risks. But he can only be as good as his team. As a team they didn’t work on the ball to get reverse swing.
 
On one side you've got Woakes, Buttler going 4rpo to the new ball to seal the game, sweeping cleanly with a positive mind, skipper sending in Broad ahead of Bess to knock off crucial runs, bowling Stokes with a short ball/surprise element strategy.

On the other hand you've got run-of-the-mill straight captaincy giving 6 over or longer spells, double change at each end, Shadab bowling last over of the session, tentative run-outs, and getting out in the manner for the nth time. Classic, textbook, old-school pathetic thinking.
 
The Misbah and Misbah combo. I do feel that this series will not keep dissenters quiet. Misbah has had it 3-0 in Australia and now this. NZD up next I think?

Hes not going anywhere atleast 2022 i think
First step should to be het rid of passengers like azhar and asad
 
Crap captaincy

Yasir should have stayed on when he was getting hit abit gotta take risks didnt see that today also shadab not bowled enough not sure what his current role is tbh hence I would drop him and play imaam or fawad
 
Sounds a bit ruthless, but if Pakistan truly wants to get back into this series and win it, then they need to drop Azhar Ali from the team and replace him as captain immediately.

It’s clear that he is a massive drain out there. His tactical ineptitude was the main reason for yesterday’s match tipping in favour of England, and with his glaring technical issues he won’t score any runs against Broad, Anderson and Woakes.
 
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Azhar's captaincy yesterday was defined by what he did NOT do.

Mentality
- Non-proactive - Waiting for things to happen (like a ball to spit or batsman to make a mistake!)
- Non-nurturing - No emotional support to bowlers. You are on your own. Contrast with Misbah, Imran or even Sarfaraz.
- Not bold - spreading field when need to attack. Not bowling Shadab when he could have tempted batsmen into false shots.

Presence
- Non-Authoritative. Formal authority, yes, but no informal authority (leadership shadow.)
- Non-observational - Slips too far back for much of the game (3-4 balls could have been chances).
- Unimaginative - Batsmen knew what fields they were going to get.

Overall
- Non performance - His batting form and captaincy have been mediocre for too long.

Having said that, he is Pakistan's captain for the series, is going nowhere before that, so best wishes to him for a turnaround. Hope he learns couple of things from this disaster.
 
More opinions chiming in.

Rashid and Shoaib going on about it full throttle in the post match discussion on PTV. I normally dont take the later seriously but here hes only seconding what a lot of sane experts have already said.
- bizarre to see no bouncers aimed at Woakes.
- the WI series just finished last month. did our "think thank" even bother to see it? If they had, they would've seen how they bowled to him
- Woakes was only getting in line with the ball when Abbas was bowling. As soon as Naseem or Shaheen came in, he was visibly drawing up, exposing all his stumps and creating room for a cover drive/cut shot. And we fed directly to it.

-No silly midoff for Yasir at any point. Instead we had a silly midon and leg gully.. For a bowler who rarely bowls a googly. Rashid thinks this was a blunder.

- Shaheen coming around the wicket the first oppurtunity he gets, again catering directly into Woakes tactics. Rashid feels the team management needs to analyze this with him like Australia did with Starc.

Aamir Sohail on his yt channel thinks the fast bowlers cant be blamed. Theyre too inexperienced to ask for a plan or a field themselves. Someone should have told him what to do. His finger was directly pointed at Waqar and Misbah.

PTV had Mushi come in on video call and this is how the conversation went.

RL "why didnt we have a sillymidoff for Shah"
Mushi "IA things will improve"

RL "why did we take the heavy roller when we knew it would slow down the turn"
Mushi "we will improve IA"

SA "why didnt Naseem/Afridi attack woakes"
Mushi "theyre young. You will see theyll turn into legends Shoabi, trust me. IA"

SA "why didnt we try anything else when the length balls weren't working"
Mushi "boys are working really hard Shoaibi. IA"

Im not exaggerating. Thats exactly how that conversation Went. He hung up shortly after those answers.
 
More opinions chiming in.

Rashid and Shoaib going on about it full throttle in the post match discussion on PTV. I normally dont take the later seriously but here hes only seconding what a lot of sane experts have already said.
- bizarre to see no bouncers aimed at Woakes.
- the WI series just finished last month. did our "think thank" even bother to see it? If they had, they would've seen how they bowled to him
- Woakes was only getting in line with the ball when Abbas was bowling. As soon as Naseem or Shaheen came in, he was visibly drawing up, exposing all his stumps and creating room for a cover drive/cut shot. And we fed directly to it.

-No silly midoff for Yasir at any point. Instead we had a silly midon and leg gully.. For a bowler who rarely bowls a googly. Rashid thinks this was a blunder.

- Shaheen coming around the wicket the first oppurtunity he gets, again catering directly into Woakes tactics. Rashid feels the team management needs to analyze this with him like Australia did with Starc.

Aamir Sohail on his yt channel thinks the fast bowlers cant be blamed. Theyre too inexperienced to ask for a plan or a field themselves. Someone should have told him what to do. His finger was directly pointed at Waqar and Misbah.

PTV had Mushi come in on video call and this is how the conversation went.

RL "why didnt we have a sillymidoff for Shah"
Mushi "IA things will improve"

RL "why did we take the heavy roller when we knew it would slow down the turn"
Mushi "we will improve IA"

SA "why didnt Naseem/Afridi attack woakes"
Mushi "theyre young. You will see theyll turn into legends Shoabi, trust me. IA"

SA "why didnt we try anything else when the length balls weren't working"
Mushi "boys are working really hard Shoaibi. IA"

Im not exaggerating. Thats exactly how that conversation Went. He hung up shortly after those answers.

Surely there should be some engagement with the objective facts observable out there on the field, as opposed to dodging the issues and saying what is effectively “hope for the best”.
 
Surely there should be some engagement with the objective facts observable out there on the field, as opposed to dodging the issues and saying what is effectively “hope for the best”.
Nah, no such luck with Mushi. He was asked why Shadab was played if he was only going to bowl 11 overs in the whole match. To which Mushi replied "hes a special talent and has a great attitude towards the game. Sometimes the captain has to go with his intuition "
 
Azhar Ali's time may be up soon - cannot see him lasting should he return with a series loss
 
Surely there should be some engagement with the objective facts observable out there on the field, as opposed to dodging the issues and saying what is effectively “hope for the best”.
I saw the interview and Mushy was not at all comfortable answering these questions. I'm sure he had no reply to them, which is why he kept dodging these issues.

I'm miffed about how the think tank believe Shaheen and Naseem will become good enough eventually like it's a given. When these bowlers make dumb mistakes like they did, and when you have such a useless captain, they need a proper lashing in the dressing room. I hope the team management gave it to them, before Mushy came on here and started spouting this rubbish about young players learning in international cricket :facepalm:
 
I saw the interview and Mushy was not at all comfortable answering these questions. I'm sure he had no reply to them, which is why he kept dodging these issues.

I'm miffed about how the think tank believe Shaheen and Naseem will become good enough eventually like it's a given. When these bowlers make dumb mistakes like they did, and when you have such a useless captain, they need a proper lashing in the dressing room. I hope the team management gave it to them, before Mushy came on here and started spouting this rubbish about young players learning in international cricket :facepalm:

Whilst i agree both Shaheen and Shah underperformed, theyre too young to take things into their hands and dictate the bowling plan. With guys like Waqar and Mushi in the dressing room, theyre most likely simply following orders. And the orders were pedestrian, inflexible and just completely illogical at the end. No homework was done, they had no plans for Buttler or Woakes. Once the length bowling didnt work, nothing was tried and they kept repeating that nonstop while woakes belted them for 60 runs through the covers alone.

Even more frustrating was to see them try and turn Naseem into Abbas 2.0. Ironically we had the same bowling coach in Australia last year when Naseem made his test debut and was way too short in length throughout. It seems they went to the opposite extreme this time.
The same bowling coach couldnt see that with Woakes clearing his right leg even before the ball release, Shaheen wouldve been much more effective sliding it across him from over the wicket.

Ive lost faith completely in Waqar. I think weve all seen enough of him in his 2 stints to figure out that he isnt cut for this role at all. As a sportsman, he was a supremely talented athlete who relied mostly on his natural speed and intuition rather than extensive coaching or development through time. That sort of an individual is generally a poor choice when it comes to being a mentor or a coach.
 
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.



After chastizing me with a mile long post earlier, the least you could have done was accept that you were wrong and I was spot on...yet, you continue in this fashion, just amazing!

You accused me of not watching the whole innings and just going off the scorecard without even realizing I was spot on, when the match was far from over!
 
After chastizing me with a mile long post earlier, the least you could have done was accept that you were wrong and I was spot on...yet, you continue in this fashion, just amazing!

You accused me of not watching the whole innings and just going off the scorecard without even realizing I was spot on, when the match was far from over!
He doesn’t support Azhar Ali a twopenny damn.

It’s what’s behind him; the almighty hand of Misbah-ul-Haq.
 
After chastizing me with a mile long post earlier, the least you could have done was accept that you were wrong and I was spot on...yet, you continue in this fashion, just amazing!

You accused me of not watching the whole innings and just going off the scorecard without even realizing I was spot on, when the match was far from over!

did you watch the whole game that you were giving analysis?
 
Awful. Looks lost out there. He is not captaincy material.
 
He needs a captaincy 101 course very soon.

Misbah, YK, Waqar - all three have been captains - can they not impart some knowledge to Azhar?
 
He needs a captaincy 101 course very soon.

Misbah, YK, Waqar - all three have been captains - can they not impart some knowledge to Azhar?

If it was that simple...you could literally make any player a captain with a solid coaching staff of great ex captain's.

But captaincy comes naturally. Leaders are born. From there, you learn and improve yourself. Now Azhar Ali is willing to learn and improve and is a hard worker and a motivated individual...but he is not a natural leader and never will be. We saw that in his failed and bizzare stint as ODI captain and Pakistan cricket has not learned from that & made him captain of the test team when he doesn't even deserve a place in the playing 11! Absolute maddness.
 
He needs a captaincy 101 course very soon.

Misbah, YK, Waqar - all three have been captains - can they not impart some knowledge to Azhar?

Not much they can do sat in the dressing room.

They can advise, but ultimately on the field its down to Azhar.
 
Not much they can do sat in the dressing room.

They can advise, but ultimately on the field its down to Azhar.

Surely they can send a message to the captain if they feel he is doing something wrong. They are paid for that atleast.
 
Surely they can send a message to the captain if they feel he is doing something wrong. They are paid for that atleast.

They can, they were.

But they can't after every over.
 
Can Azhar be criticised here for not being aggressive enough with the field? Not many people close to the bat and lots of singles being taken.
 
Unable to inspire his side - really disappointing - getting Shan to ball lollipops to give some good confidence building practice to Crawley and Sibley?
 
Azhar Ali after the second Test vs England:

“It has been frustrating for both teams. The game was set quite nicely, with conditions good for bowling throughout - the total we got, we thought would be very competitive but, unfortunately, the weather was the winner in the end.

“I’m proud of them [the batsmen]. We spoke before the game started that we are taking the challenge of batting first. Whoever went in fought really hard; the England bowling attack is a brilliant attack, with the experience of Broad and Anderson. The guys stuck to the task.”
 
did you watch the whole game that you were giving analysis?




I am sure I am the one at fault, Azhar is the best thing that ever happened to Pakistan...what do you have to say to the other thousands of people criticizing Azhar's captaincy/batting/everything?

Calling a spade a spade does not require to watch the whole game anyway, it takes just a few overs to realise how much pro-active or reactive a captain is...not rocket science by any stretch!
 
Warne on commentary disagreeing with Pakistan tactics of giving Abbas long 8/9/10 over spells, and thinks they should be reduced to 4-5 with many rotations. Is this something Azhar should consider?
 
No Naseem Shah - captaincy is so insipid - waiting for something to happen.
 
Naseem started the session looking out of his groove, but Azhar persisted with him and has been rewarded with the wicket of the opposition captain.
 
Surely Azhar has to bring the keeper up to Abbas? It's been repeated all day as the obvious option to counter this batting way out of the crease, yet somehow Azhar does not see it and they keep comfortably negotiating Abbas. It's infuriating.
 
Surely Azhar has to bring the keeper up to Abbas? It's been repeated all day as the obvious option to counter this batting way out of the crease, yet somehow Azhar does not see it and they keep comfortably negotiating Abbas. It's infuriating.

Finally, as I say this, Rizwan comes up and immediately Crawley edges one to slip but it falls short. Should've been done ages ago.
 
Seems to wait for things to happen - a little slow to proactively make decisions.
 
Azhar has been very defensive with the field setting when Yasir is bowling. In the first day, with Pakistan in a strong position and Yasir taking wickets - the field has consistently had 2-3 players out deep.

Why?

Should be crowding people around the bat, not have a deep point, deep mid-off, deep square leg, deep mid-wicket... Absurd
 
Azhar's lack of quality as a cricketer also reflects on his captaincy. Very bookish, predictable. Has never shown anything which shows he is a good leader. Now that his performances with the bat have returned back to normal, he will be gone very soon.
 
"Heads are starting to drop from Pakistan": Nasser Hussain

Azhar Ali needs to take control now.
 
"Heads are starting to drop from Pakistan": Nasser Hussain

Azhar Ali needs to take control now.


New ball being wasted -

"Looking clumsy from Pakistan" : Nasser Hussain
 
nothing to do with bowling its poor Captaincy who bowls spinners and keeps both long on and long off at the boundary someone please .
Zak Crawley hits a sweep shot and square leg goes to the boundary
 
Wasim Akram on commentary pointing out the lack of leadership and guidance from Azhar for the inexperienced bowlers:

"With inexperienced bowlers, the skipper plays a big and vital role. He can chat to his bowlers, he can give them some options, 'if this is not happening, you can do this or let's try that', but I havent seen much of that from Azhar"

"When I came into the Pakistan team as a young kid, a 17 year-old, the great Javed Miandad was my first captain, and he used to talk to me literally every second ball, standing at mid-on and mid-off, then the great Imran Khan came and he was standing at mid off always discussing what we can try, he was giving me options as a young kid and that helped me a lot"

"There's no leader of the pack here in the fast bowling attack, just the youngsters and Abbas, need someone standing at mid off in their ear giving them options, talking to them, giving them confidence, especially in this situation"

"Obviously chips are down here, need a little bit of noise and backing up for these young bowlers"
 
Looks better today. Field placings are more proactive

Not just field placements, he should be encouraging everyone and speaking constantly to his bowlers...

Some people are just not cut out for captaincy and I think he’s one of them. It doesn’t I help that he that can’t even hold down his place as a batsman.
 
Not just field placements, he should be encouraging everyone and speaking constantly to his bowlers...

Some people are just not cut out for captaincy and I think he’s one of them. It doesn’t I help that he that can’t even hold down his place as a batsman.

Maybe, but I see him talking to the bowler loads. He seems very switched into today. Yes the pitch is slow and it’s a rookie attack but he seems to be doing ok without much reward.
 
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