Azhar Ali needs to be more positive batting at number three

[AlphaFighter]

Umar Akmal was treated harshly in tests but he didn't help his case by being a reckless idiot of a batsman in other formats. His immaturity and failure to learn is part of the reason why he is not here.

Sohaib Maqsood should have established himself in the LOI format but he did the same thing as Umar Akmal. Became reckless and kept getting out by playing ugly slogs. Besides he had terrible technique, wouldn't have done much better overseas.

Babar Azam and Haris Sohail have been the only players about whom I can say they should go a long way for Pakistan and have the technique and capabilities to perform in tough conditions. Saud Shakeel is another one but I will reserve judgement till a later date.

I am a bit old school but i believe that playing test matches and most importantly continous cricket in all formats of the game just helps you become a better all round batsman in all formats of the game.

In Umar Akmal because he has only been confined to ODI and T-20 Cricket in the last 5 years, when i compare his batting technique to when he first burst on to the scene in 2009 to the time when he got dropped from the test team in 2011 to the time he strictly became an ODI and T-20 specialist, i have observed that his defensive technique has further deteriorated and that he plays more and more cross bat and across the line. Now there can be various reasons to blame, maybe his own work ethic, the role he has to play in the team i.e. to go for it in the last 10 overs, to speed up the scoring rate. But i do think exposure to test matches would not have hurt him.

Sure the other players you mention are good options too. Unfortunately our team managements are only good at one thing i.e. mismanaging players and ruining their confidence in the long run.

 

[Fahdi]

I am a bit old school but i believe that playing test matches and most importantly continous cricket in all formats of the game just helps you become a better all round batsman in all formats of the game.

In Umar Akmal because he has only been confined to ODI and T-20 Cricket in the last 5 years, when i compare his batting technique to when he first burst on to the scene in 2009 to the time when he got dropped from the test team in 2011 to the time he strictly became an ODI and T-20 specialist, i have observed that his defensive technique has further deteriorated and that he plays more and more cross bat and across the line. Now there can be various reasons to blame, maybe his own work ethic, the role he has to play in the team i.e. to go for it in the last 10 overs, to speed up the scoring rate. But i do think exposure to test matches would not have hurt him.

Sure the other players you mention are good options too. Unfortunately our team managements are only good at one thing i.e. mismanaging players and ruining their confidence in the long run.

The thing is Umar's defensive technique was never tested in ODIs and T20s. And he had no lack of supporters. One good Asia cup and everyone was making a case for him to return to the test squad, analysts and ex-players included. But he failed to show maturity, he kept getting out to reckless shots. That was the only thing he has ever been criticised for. Even now if he in the near future gets back into the ODI team and plays two or three series where he doesn't get out out to reckless shots then I am sure he will get back in to the test squad.

Yes our management and selectors have not done right by him. They judged him by performances in other formats and Treated him harsher than others who had performed worse than him but he himself has not done right by himself. Instead of improving he has actually gotten worse. He didn't learn from his mistakes.

 

[iRfaN_LA]

Azhar ali's approach to batting is over-cautious and confused. To be honest, its a pain watching him bat.

 

[LowKiiSavage]

LOL the only thing opening would do for Azhar is ensuring he will return back to the pavilion faster than he currently is...

True. This is baffling logic. Cant play swing at 3. So lets make him open where ball swings more. LOL.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Azhar has been a massive dissapointment so far in this series and needs to show some a lot more with the bat in 2nd inns at old trafford.

 

[shariqnoor]

Azhar Ali's Strike Rate

With Azhar Ali virtually an opener in our Test team, no doubt his job is to blunt the new ball and for that his strike rate hovers around early-to-mid thirties which is fine for starters. But when he gets to 50 and has played more than 120 balls, that's when he should up the scoring rate I believe.

For me, if Azhar has that ambition of becoming a great batsman for Pakistan and not just remain a good batsman, he needs to start dominating teams when he's fully set. Also his conversion from 50 to a 100 would also increase I believe if he becomes more aggressive.

Thoughts?

 

[Strike Rate]

I don't mind a top order batsmen in our batting line keep scoring 50s @ sr of 45 if he is consistent. Consistency is the only thing we need at the moment to make our top order strong. Otherwise get ready for professor like shots and dismissals in 40s!

 

[Fahdi]

He was much more positive today. And the results are showing.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Comes to bat when Fakhar at other end and rotates the strike and plays positive. Then once a wicket falls resorts a blockathon which just allows the opposition to regain control in the field. 2nd test in a row Azhars negative batting has started to cause pakistans inns to stall.

Yes in this case there are 3 days to play but whats the need in almost grinding an inns to a halt when your on top!

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Azhar finally realized that this is not the kind of pitch when you can keep grinding. Have to play positively and score regularly which he did today by rotating the strike while also playing some delightful shots in-between

 

[DRsohail]

his positivity paid off today.

 

[coy0607]

Fakhar really rubbed on his today

 

[ManFan]

The conondrum is that Hafeez scored a 100 in the last Test therefore he has booked his place as an opener for at least the NZ series.

Imam and now FZ have also performed adequately in the opening position.

Azhar is best suited as an opener because he can then play as long and slow as he wants. He’s not dynamic enough to bat 3 or below, where his blunting style negates the RR and builds pressure that was nonexistent.

So MA & Co. have to decide:

Hafeez or No Hafeez?

Otherwise, the entire batting lineup will be distorted and collapses will ensue ensuring that Hafeez is OUT early, which he has been 3/4 times this series. (The one innings where he wasn’t he had a lot of edges that fell through the cordon and showed a bundle of nervous with no control whatsoever. He tried it today and got away with a boundary once but was expecting the bouncer and was caught at cover later on).

 

[ads101]

The conondrum is that Hafeez scored a 100 in the last Test therefore he has booked his place as an opener for at least the NZ series.

I think best to open with Azhar and Imam. Play Fakhar at 3 or 4. Gives us the right-left combo up top too. I don't think we can afford to play Azhar middle order now, other batsmen have stepped up and he's not dimensional enough to play down the order. Added pressure is we're playing Haris who suffers similar issues and while better than Azhar in that regard, you don't want playing too low down either.

It is hard to drop Hafeez who had a decent test series as a whole, and was our best bat in the first test, the only one who scored highly at a good SR, I'd be tempted to drop him for Usman. Either way though you could still play Hafeez at 6, he arguably deserves it more than Babar atm who's been a little disappointing.

 

[ManFan]

I think best to open with Azhar and Imam. Play Fakhar at 3 or 4. Gives us the right-left combo up top too. I don't think we can afford to play Azhar middle order now, other batsmen have stepped up and he's not dimensional enough to play down the order. Added pressure is we're playing Haris who suffers similar issues and while better than Azhar in that regard, you don't want playing too low down either.

It is hard to drop Hafeez who had a decent test series as a whole, and was our best bat in the first test, the only one who scored highly at a good SR, I'd be tempted to drop him for Usman. Either way though you could still play Hafeez at 6, he arguably deserves it more than Babar atm who's been a little disappointing.

Right but then Hafeez will be carried to SA where he might cost us the series (not if as we have a high chance of winning but you know what I mean).

So for the NZ series, I’ll go with this lineup:

Azhar
Imam
Shafiq
Haris
Babar/Usman/Saad
FZ
Sarfraz
Bilal
Shadab (Yasir has been poor and Shadab can use the experience to prepare for SA)
SSA
Abbas

2 pacers+ 2 spinners+ 2 part-timers.

1) SSA and Shadab get accustomed to Test cricket prior to SA.

2) Azhar gets to open and Shafiq is promoted up the order where he has been decent before.

3) If Babar’s form comes to no good, Usman and Saad are itching to replace him.

4) FZ gets the coveted #6 position where he can smash the second new ball and be held in reserve if the team finds itself in a situation like Day 1 at 57-5. He’ll be accompanied by Sarfraz so no one can create unnecessary dot-ball pressure on him.

 

[ads101]

Right but then Hafeez will be carried to SA where he might cost us the series (not if as we have a high chance of winning but you know what I mean).

If Hafeez is the best selection in UAE/asia I'd pick him. We play 80% of our cricket there, and we're unlikely to win in SA. Home/asia performance is more important currently even if it's easier. However not sure that's the case, I think there might be better batsmen currently who can perform even in asia/uae. As I've said Hafeez has regressed.

I have little confidence in Asad at 3, and has been pretty average for 3 years now. And looked worse when sent up the order and has never really felt like he shouldered the responsibility of the line up, even Azhar did that at times. Been fortunate he's been down the order and yet he has a similar record to Hafeez. In fact I think Hafeez would probably average more than him had he not been opening.

Could play Fakhar at 6, but that's a big difference from opener to 6. Know it's happened in the past though e.g. Ian Bell. And if he doesn't perform at 6, people are probably going to moan it's because an opener was forced to bat 6.

I don't think there's any point in playing Babar in tests more so than him succeeding or not. Too many things to focus on, and he hasn't even really succeeded in first class in domestic. It seems more beneficial to let him focus on LOI and the world cup, and then maybe giving him another shot at test cricket down the road. Had the same thinking with Fakhar which changed as lack of options, and the thinking maybe test cricket would help improve him as a player in terms of technique and such.

I would stick with Hamza for now, let him prove himself. Shaheen has little experience in first class, and hasn't really even made his LOI spot his own (he was decent, but hardly outstanding). I'm not even that sure SSA is ready enough for the world cup, so I wouldn't play him in tests on top of that. Not sure I'd readily drop Yasir either. He's back from a long time and probably deserves a few series before dropping altogether. I'd still rather have the better spinner than the one who can bat even in SA, the time we nearly won last time was down to Ajmal. And other asian sides have won tests in SA on the back of spinners. If Yasir can return to his previous form, think he'll be the better option than Shadab.

 

[Minnowbasher]

Hafeez opening is the biggest problem atm. If you wanna play him make him bat in middle order.

 

[Amjid Javed]

2nd test in a row we are on top with the bat, runs flowing and bowlers struggling. Out comes Azhar and inns starts to snail along at 1.5 runs an over or so, its pathetic in ideal batting conditions as well.

The guy can never play according to needs of a match situation.

 

[Dark_Horse]

2nd test in a row we are on top with the bat, runs flowing and bowlers struggling. Out comes Azhar and inns starts to snail along at 1.5 runs an over or so, its pathetic in ideal batting conditions as well.

The guy can never play according to needs of a match situation.

just curious about asad harris sr and is azhar ali the only one to blame

 

[Amjid Javed]

just curious about asad harris sr and is azhar ali the only one to blame

The Azhar/sohail combo is one to blame in both cases. neither seem to want to rotate the strike or show any intent to score runs, with Azhar been the man at the crease and having a few runs scored you would expect him to try and score with some positive intent.

 

[King Khan]

Azhar should open with Imam. Hafeez is a 37 year old who probably make way for younger players now. He can best could stay in the squad as an off-field semi-coach kind of role.

To me Fakhar is best in the no.3 role where he can express himself after the new ball has be seen off. Long term i see Babar being this role, but he can come further down the order for now.

Azhar
Imam
Fakhar
Haris
Asad
Babar
Safaraz
Bilal (if spinning track) / Amir / Junaid / Hasan
Yasir
Mir / Amir / Junaid / Shaheen / Hasan
Abbas

 

[Chief Destroyer]

He's not a number three. Problem solved.

 

[Mamoon]

Sick and tired of his batting. Kills all the momentum and has to be carried by his batting partner in every partnership.

He has no authority on the crease and allows the bowlers to build pressure instead of doing the opposite. The fact that he still cannot average 50+ in spite of all that shows his complete lack of class as a batsman.

All the top batsman in the world will average a lot more if they play such low-risk cricket innings after innings.

I agree that opening is the only position where you can hide him, but what is the point? Enough of his soft, dead runs that yield no result for the team.

 

[Ab Fan]

He should be played in the side as an opener, not no. 3. That itself will solve the problem.

Once, he opens the batting, he will become Pakistan version of Alastair Cook.