Azhar Ali ODI captaincy watch on the Australia tour (2017)

[MenInG]

Did an excellent job today - I dont think anyone had anything bad to say about him so far. Guess his job as captain done and down to the batsmen

 

[Moiza]

Credit needs to be given where due. Brilliant captaincy. Kept the pressure on throughout the innings, if only wahab and hasan supported him things would have been very different.

 

[Speedster777]

Brilliant captaincy!

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

His captaincy was poor, when Aussies were 170/7, he should have brought Amir and Hasan Ali to finish the tail, he waited too long. I'll give him a 5/10

 

[Cricketfan no 1]

From 85 for 5 to 170 for 7 and then 268 , that's what you call brilliant captaincy
MaShaAllah

 

[Asim2Good]

From 85 for 5 to 170 for 7 and then 268 , that's what you call brilliant captaincy
MaShaAllah

opposite team is there to play as well, someone is gonna stick around to score for them too.

in recent Aus-NZ series, first match Aus went from 92/4 in 20 overs to 324 (last 30 overs at RR of 7.7)
in 2nd ODI, 248 in 40 overs to 378 in 50
in 3rd ODI from 70/4 in about 18 overs to 264 in 50.

its very hard for captains to slow down run rate now a days

 

[Red Devil]

From 85 for 5 to 170 for 7 and then 268 , that's what you call brilliant captaincy
MaShaAllah

How was that the captain's fault? Can you point out any tactical errors he made today?

I thought he did well, kept looking for wickets throughout the innings.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

opposite team is there to play as well, someone is gonna stick around to score for them too.

in recent Aus-NZ series, first match Aus went from 92/4 in 20 overs to 324 (last 30 overs at RR of 7.7)
in 2nd ODI, 248 in 40 overs to 378 in 50
in 3rd ODI from 70/4 in about 18 overs to 264 in 50.

its very hard for captains to slow down run rate now a days

Wade, Cummins, Starc, Stanlake were the batsmen, his captaincy could have restricted them to a lower total.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Some brilliant captaincy by him today. Something even the Australian commentators applauded.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

Some brilliant captaincy by him today. Something even the Australian commentators applauded.

Wasim Akram was probably Pakistan's best odi captain, followed by Afridi, Azhar probably plans everything and isn't aware of the match situation. Wasim was a genius

 

[Asim2Good]

Wade, Cummins, Starc, Stanlake were the batsmen, his captaincy could have restricted them to a lower total.

you never know in cricket. what will happen
like McCullum had England at around 200/6 in about 30 overs, Eng ended up with 400 score

 

[cricketInsight]

Good captaincy however, should have kept the spin on for a bit longer at the other end when Amir came back at the death. Australia wanted pace on from both ends at the time and it did help them.

 

[Asim2Good]

Wasim Akram was probably Pakistan's best odi captain, followed by Afridi, Azhar probably plans everything and isn't aware of the match situation. Wasim was a genius

but he had serivce of Waqar
Red Hot Saqlain & Sohaib
in form Azhar & Razzaq
And not to forget himself too

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

you never know in cricket. what will happen
like McCullum had England at around 200/6 in about 30 overs, Eng ended up with 400 score

JOS BUTLER!!! there is a difference between Butler and Wade, Rashid and Cummins. England bats deep, England will surprise everyone in the next world cup.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

but he had serivce of Waqar
Red Hot Saqlain & Sohaib
in form Azhar & Razzaq
And not to forget himself too

I guess that explains. I am being too harsh on Azhar as Wasim raised my expectation from Pakistan.

 

[Asim2Good]

JOS BUTLER!!! there is a difference between Butler and Wade, Rashid and Cummins. England bats deep, England will surprise everyone in the next world cup.

neither was captain Azhar of opposing team, captain was McCulum who been praised all the time as "attacking" captain here. and still he went at 10 runs per over after having team 6 down.

 

[aukhan]

Hafeez at 3 was enough to know his state of mind. Poor and pathetic Azhar.

 

[Cricketfan no 1]

you never know in cricket. what will happen
like McCullum had England at around 200/6 in about 30 overs, Eng ended up with 400 score

its acceptable if it happens once or twice , but it has been happening with Azhar since is first match against Bangladesh

 

[Zohaib Shah]

The captaincy started good although it ended bad. Australia should have never reached 268.

 

[Asim2Good]

its acceptable if it happens once or twice , but it has been happening with Azhar since is first match against Bangladesh

Pakistan don't have bowlers, who comes in for just 1-2 overs and give captain a wicket right away.
look at Aus today.
Starc came back for one over and took wicket of Akmal
cummins back and he got 2 wickets for captain.
neither we have 3-4 best pacers so captain just 2-3 overs from Amir upfront and bring him back again whenever he needs. and also our captains never think out of box, we have same mentality that main bowlers should bowl 4-5 overs at start, then 2-3 overs in middle and must must bowl at end.

 

[Cricketfan no 1]

Pakistan don't have bowlers, who comes in for just 1-2 overs and give captain a wicket right away.
look at Aus today.
Starc came back for one over and took wicket of Akmal
cummins back and he got 2 wickets for captain.
neither we have 3-4 best pacers so captain just 2-3 overs from Amir upfront and bring him back again whenever he needs. and also our captains never think out of box, we have same mentality that main bowlers should bowl 4-5 overs at start, then 2-3 overs in middle and must must bowl at end.

captain needs to get this sick mentality out of his mind but he won't since he is AZHAR ALI , he will follow the steps of his mentor MISBAH and will hopefully take the team to 10 and fans will keep giving lame excuses that bowlers nai achay hai , fielders nai hain , batsmen nai hain bla bla bla

 

[Asim2Good]

captain needs to get this sick mentality out of his mind but he won't since he is AZHAR ALI , he will follow the steps of his mentor MISBAH and will hopefully take the team to 10 and fans will keep giving lame excuses that bowlers nai achay hai , fielders nai hain , batsmen nai hain bla bla bla

it's not only Misbah & Azhar, all captains of Pakistan been same over the years.
can you let me know last time Pak captain went for kill against top teams and been successful ?

 

[Cricketfan no 1]

it's not only Misbah & Azhar, all captains of Pakistan been same over the years.
can you let me know last time Pak captain went for kill against top teams and been successful ?

how about finishing the blame and point game and accept that he is not good enough

 

[RYASIR]

Fed up

I don't see Pakistan winning any match in Australia.. batsman's are looking absolutely fragile. They don't know how to bat... It is like we are watching Australia vs hong kong cricket club not even international team.... We Kashmiri's want complete transformation in Pakistan team

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Wasim Akram was probably Pakistan's best odi captain, followed by Afridi, Azhar probably plans everything and isn't aware of the match situation. Wasim was a genius

haha afridi what a joke... YK was miles better than the clueless Afridi who field 4 pacers in a spinning track and 3 spinners on green mambas, and his field placings are even worse.. he distrubs the bowler on his every delivery...afridi was the most clueless captains of all..

 

[imshally81]

He was missing Sarfaraz today.....

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

today was his best day as captain.

however if he is done for the series i hope he is done for good.

His batting wont take us further, yes he is better than some of the other garbage, but does not change the fact that azhar is the contrary to all that modern cricket is supposed to be

lets not redo the misbah odi era

 

[Asim2Good]

how about finishing the blame and point game and accept that he is not good enough

So u can't provide proof for any of Pak captain. That was my point.
Its easy to over-analyse everything but reality been harsh for Pak team.

 

[Indiafan]

His captaincy was poor, when Aussies were 170/7, he should have brought Amir and Hasan Ali to finish the tail, he waited too long. I'll give him a 5/10

Amir does absolutely nothing with the old ball, it is better to get him to finish early like Bhuvi

 

[itsme]

Amir does absolutely nothing with the old ball, it is better to get him to finish early like Bhuvi

Yes because he bowl at 120-130kph "like bhuvi"

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

Mohammad Younus Khan

Younus Khan can only dream to have a handsome career like Afridi. Afridi is next to Wasim and Imran Khan, YK is not upto Afridi's standard. Just saying

 

[Shafi]

If PCB sticks with Azhar and current bunch of players I doubt we will make it to next World Cup.

 

[Abid Z]

JOS BUTLER!!! there is a difference between Butler and Wade, Rashid and Cummins. England bats deep, England will surprise everyone in the next world cup.

England will only surprise those clueless bloggers that think cricket is still played by 5 batsmen, a wicket keeper a bits and pieces player and 4 bowlers, that you steadily build an innings and have a dash at the end. This is Pakistan cricket for you.

England have a squad of about 15 battle hardened players, all very young with excellent batting all the way down to number 10. They are fit and strong and able to clear the boundary and do so regularly. England and Australia (perhaps followed by India) are the best ODI teams right now. They hit you with weight of runs and then keep coming at you.

Pakistan don't even come close. For this ODI leg in Australia the only service to cricket they can provide is if every match they bring drinks on to the ground for the Aussie players and massage their backs in between pretending to be able to bat.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Reactive captaincy in the field rather then pro-active as per usual and with the bat the usual snail like batting. typical rubbish from Azhar in ODIs. hopefully he will get the boot after this series.

 

[Boi]

Reactive captaincy in the field rather then pro-active as per usual and with the bat the usual snail like batting. typical rubbish from Azhar in ODIs. hopefully he will get the boot after this series.

What part of his on field captaincy was reactive? Did you even watch the game?Or are you just throwing out these terms like 'proactive' without any meaning behind it like most Pak fans wanting an 'aggressive' captain yet having no idea of what that entails.

Azhar did well today. I've always maintained that his captaincy would improve with time because he isn't the kind of guy to rest on his laurels. His development as a batsmen over the years is enough proof that the guy has the capacity to improve in all areas and that includes his captaincy. It's a shame he's probably out of the series and will end up getting the sack pretty soon but atleast there is hope that he won't be a Misbah clone when he takes over the Test captaincy.

 

[MMHS]

I thought, allowing 85/5 to 268 is a bit more than brilliant. One exceptional ball got Warner & next ball, Smith tried to drive on the rise on his 1st ball - otherwise 368 was on the cards.

Anyway, the gap between 2 set was too big for any Captain to close the gap; but my expectation for brilliance will be a bit more than allowing only batsman to add 100 in last 15 overs with last 3 wickets - 35 of those with a genuine No. 11.

This guy is worse than Misbah, which PAK fans didn't realize after 0-3 in BD, conceding bonus points 3 times - next step is his tactical brilliance in 2019 WC qualifiers against associates - even then he'll be clueless.

 

[Indiafan]

Yes because he bowl at 120-130kph "like bhuvi"

Pace doesnt matter when he travels fast to the boundary and doesnt dare to try bouncers

BTW do you know 120 Bhuvi averages 15 this year while speed demon Amir averages 40 on much better pitches in tests?

 

[Speedster777]

Azhar belongs to Misbah school of defensive captaincy which is the problem here he should have gone all out and attack after Aus were 78/5. As long as Azhar remains a yes man to the management he will remain a failure.

 

[Speedster777]

Why is Azhar Ali insistent on playing as an opener? For whom are we saving this spot? We need a proper opener from domestic and A tours. Azhar should come one down.

 

[MenInG]

Azhar belongs to Misbah school of defensive captaincy which is the problem here he should have gone all out and attack after Aus were 78/5. As long as Azhar remains a yes man to the management he will remain a failure.

I dont know if you watched the game but not ONE word was spoken about his captaincy during that time. Most comms etc agreed that Australian batsmen played well.

 

[yasir]

I dont know if you watched the game but not ONE word was spoken about his captaincy during that time. Most comms etc agreed that Australian batsmen played well.

He took Amir off, after he had Warner & Smith, then when they were 75/5, he did not attack via Amir to fetch more wickets, he did that again with 170/7, he was always worried about bowling 50 overs, that's very defensive Captaincy. You have to look for bowling them out in 40/45 overs...Its not everyday you will get Warner and Smith out on two balls when score is in teens...

Misbah 2 is not very inspiring, Pakistan has got into vicious cycle of mediocracy. We are settled for Misbah/Azhar type Captains for years, Hafeez/Shezad like openers and Rahat/Imran Khan type bowlers again for years, standards are so low, no end in sight...There is no fire in belly, no venom, this team has no personality, when Captains are so boring and unimaginative what can you expect from rest

 

[MRSN]

I dont know if you watched the game but not ONE word was spoken about his captaincy during that time. Most comms etc agreed that Australian batsmen played well.

still allowing a team to escape from 75/5 to 268 is disappointing that too with Wade of all people smashing all part of the ground. but his biggest test is his batting which was a liability as it has been. I don't blame Azhar Ali. It's fans and PCB who have gone senseless. Expecting Azhar Ali to do something that he doesn't have. no matter how hard he tries he just hasn't got it for ODIs.

 

[MRSN]

He took Amir off, after he had Warner & Smith, then when they were 75/5, he did not attack via Amir to fetch more wickets, he did that again with 170/7, he was always worried about bowling 50 overs, that's very defensive Captaincy. You have to look for bowling them out in 40/45 overs...Its not everyday you will get Warner and Smith out on two balls when score is in teens...

Misbah 2 is not very inspiring, Pakistan has got into vicious cycle of mediocracy. We are settled for Misbah/Azhar type Captains for years, Hafeez/Shezad like openers and Rahat/Imran Khan type bowlers again for years, standards are so low, no end in sight...There is no fire in belly, no venom, this team has no personality, when Captains are so boring and unimaginative what can you expect from rest

and feeding Maxwell plenty of spin bowling in the middle early on who generally struggles against pace and loves the spin..his quick cameo against spinners brought Aus back in the the game in no time. Also not bowling Hafeez when Aus were 7 down and Wade had no option but hit big shots. I don't think our captain,coaches do their home work.

 

[Hasan123]

He did a good job today for the most part today but allowing Australia to get 260 plus he and the bowlers should the blame.

 

[aloo paratha]

Wade, Cummins, Starc, Stanlake were the batsmen, his captaincy could have restricted them to a lower total.

Maybe 2 of his 3 fast bowlers could've bowled a bit better as well.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I thought, allowing 85/5 to 268 is a bit more than brilliant. One exceptional ball got Warner & next ball, Smith tried to drive on the rise on his 1st ball - otherwise 368 was on the cards.

Anyway, the gap between 2 set was too big for any Captain to close the gap; but my expectation for brilliance will be a bit more than allowing only batsman to add 100 in last 15 overs with last 3 wickets - 35 of those with a genuine No. 11.

This guy is worse than Misbah, which PAK fans didn't realize after 0-3 in BD, conceding bonus points 3 times - next step is his tactical brilliance in 2019 WC qualifiers against associates - even then he'll be clueless.

Australia have the most powerful batting line up in ODI cricket atm. Playing at home for any captain to restrict them under 270 is a very good achievement, I doubt Mortaza could have done it esp with many people thinking Bangladesh have a better bowling attack in LOI's.

He is learning and getting better with each series.

 

[MenInG]

I am not saying I am not disappointed but he has to rely on the team given to him.

 

[Pete Rose]

He was good today. You cannot expect teams to be bowled out for less than 250. As demonstrated by how Australia rallied vs Williamson despite being 4 down.
The only other thing he could have tried today was to bring back the spinner in the last 4 overs when wade was struggling for stamina and using the pace of the bowlers to heave everything to mid wicket

 

[MRSN]

I am not saying I am not disappointed but he has to rely on the team given to him.

I agree. I think he is just repairing damage done during Misbah-Waqar days. Also him making his comeback after 2 years doesn't help him either. he is not in a position to dictate things as he has little powers right now.

 

[MRSN]

He was good today. You cannot expect teams to be bowled out for less than 250. As demonstrated by how Australia rallied vs Williamson despite being 4 down.
The only other thing he could have tried today was to bring back the spinner in the last 4 overs when wade was struggling for stamina and using the pace of the bowlers to heave everything to mid wicket

yeah. It was frustrating to see our bowlers feeding Wade pace in his slot for heaving to midwicket. A little brain would tell you to bowl him off side. I don't think we can blame Azhar for that. That's lack of awareness from the bowlers.

 

[Third_Umpire]

Watched the entire match, I strongly disagree with anyone saying his captaincy was good in this game.

Amir's brilliance gave us a HUGE advantage up front, which created pressure on the Aussies. They were down for the count at 90-5, and instead of going for the kill by bringing Amir back, Azhar prolonged the innings all the way to the end of the innings. At 5 down with nothing on the board, we should have gone for the kill. This was no time to get overs through with spinners etc. The moment they crossed 240, I knew we were goners.

 

[MRSN]

Watched the entire match, I strongly disagree with anyone saying his captaincy was good in this game.

Amir's brilliance gave us a HUGE advantage up front, which created pressure on the Aussies. They were down for the count at 90-5, and instead of going for the kill by bringing Amir back, Azhar prolonged the innings all the way to the end of the innings. At 5 down with nothing on the board, we should have gone for the kill. This was no time to get overs through with spinners etc. The moment they crossed 240, I knew we were goners.

it doesn't help when your third seamer starts to leak runs.

 

[Boi]

He took Amir off, after he had Warner & Smith, then when they were 75/5, he did not attack via Amir to fetch more wickets, he did that again with 170/7, he was always worried about bowling 50 overs, that's very defensive Captaincy. You have to look for bowling them out in 40/45 overs...Its not everyday you will get Warner and Smith out on two balls when score is in teens...

Misbah 2 is not very inspiring, Pakistan has got into vicious cycle of mediocracy. We are settled for Misbah/Azhar type Captains for years, Hafeez/Shezad like openers and Rahat/Imran Khan type bowlers again for years, standards are so low, no end in sight...There is no fire in belly, no venom, this team has no personality, when Captains are so boring and unimaginative what can you expect from rest

Again I don't know if you were watching the game or not but as soon as the 5th wicket fell Wahab only bowled one over before Amir was brought in to the attack for a 2 over spell. He even managed to get an lbw off Wade before it was overturned due to an inside edge. So you are wrong, he did attack with Amir soon enough, he may be could've given him one extra over but that would be a really brave thing to do with how much rubbish Wahab was bowling so Amir's overs would've been needed later on.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Watched the entire match, I strongly disagree with anyone saying his captaincy was good in this game.

Amir's brilliance gave us a HUGE advantage up front, which created pressure on the Aussies. They were down for the count at 90-5, and instead of going for the kill by bringing Amir back, Azhar prolonged the innings all the way to the end of the innings. At 5 down with nothing on the board, we should have gone for the kill. This was no time to get overs through with spinners etc. The moment they crossed 240, I knew we were goners.

He bought back Amir around the 19th over but didn't create any decent chances. Wahab and Hasan were average, he did his best to go for the kill but didn't have the resources. Wade also played really well.

 

[Pakprideuk]

I dont know why people keep saying he could have bought amir back to go for the kill. He did bring Amir back and he got whacked over deep midwicket for a six. Then he kicked the turf and started holding his ankle, then he bowled 2 bouncers that were called a wide lol. Watch the game before making assumptions based on results.

 

[MMHS]

Australia have the most powerful batting line up in ODI cricket atm. Playing at home for any captain to restrict them under 270 is a very good achievement, I doubt Mortaza could have done it esp with many people thinking Bangladesh have a better bowling attack in LOI's.

He is learning and getting better with each series.

I am not sure how many people thinks that Murtaza has a better attack at his disposal; but for sure he won't have looked like headless chicken with the attack Azhar has. For example, I can give Azhar 1 : 20 odds, that's 1 out of 20 attempts, to defend 240 against this English side with the attack Murtaza had at Mirpur. Mortaza's attack won't have got AUS 10/2 with Warner, Smith gone; but you can rest assured that he won't allow this AUS side to post 180 more from 85/5, even with his attack.

 

[Speedster777]

As long as Azhar will act as a yes man "ache bacha" of PCB bawas, misbah and management, he'll destroy his own career. Nobody has raised this point why is he acting like a make shift opener ? Why didn't they take a specialist opener on this tour? this team is a joke where a captain and team management makes a team of his friends trying to please everyone. For God sake you're playing for the country each time the team loses it create so much negativity people are fed up watching cricket because of their poor win loss ratio. They don't deserve to play against any top side.

 

[Cosmic]

worst captain........

 

[aukhan]

His injury has saved his pathetic captaincy for a bit.

Bad for Pakistan though.

 

[Pakprideuk]

His injury has saved his pathetic captaincy for a bit.

Bad for Pakistan though.

He captained well on Friday. The issue was with Wahab who was a spray gun. Slowly but surely things are getting sorted in this side with Junaid coming in. When Sarfaraz is back in the middle order, things will be better.

 

[aukhan]

He captained well on Friday. The issue was with Wahab who was a spray gun. Slowly but surely things are getting sorted in this side with Junaid coming in. When Sarfaraz is back in the middle order, things will be better.

Issue is not Wahab, it's actually Azhar's negative and outdated approach.

Bowlers gave us the breakthrough early on and he let the game slip away due to his approach.

 

[adzzy786]

Azhar knows if he looses the ODI series he looses his captaincy. He's then conveniently got injured. Apparently it's a hamstring injury

 

[Abdullah719]

How's he going today? Big opening partnership...

 

[MenInG]

I can see minds working overtime to add their thoughts on how to blame Azhar

Let's see what we can come up with...

 

[coy0607]

I don't get starting the bowling with Hafeez. That was an alright plan in uae, when Hafeez was at his best

But in Australia, when Hafeez is not even half the bowler it's absurd

Super defensive captain. Azhar wouldn't be successful with any amount of talent

 

[street cricketer]

The constant hollering about bad captaincy is becoming tedious.

Yeah he might not be the brightest but he is not the one who is bowling. Pak fans always like to scapegoat their captain or worse, their coach when the team fails. Anyway he is not an ODI player and shouldn't be playing. However I don't think putting all the blame on the captain alone is the right way to go about things which sort of gives a free pass to the bowlers.

 

[Yatoo]

Is this the end of the road for Azhar Ali in ODIs?

He had no place in Odi team to begin with. And seeing his captaincy, he is one dimensional
Today he was looking to finish the quota of his spinners and let Head and Maxwell settle down.

Should it be last series for Azhar Ali as a captain and as a player in Odis too.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Jabo]

Shouldn't be in the side if he isn't the captain

Same with

Hafeez
Shafiq
Rizwan
Riaz
Nawaz

I expect him to get a chance along with hafeez to play as a batsman in WI tour so we will still be awful

 

[Arham_PakFan]

It should be his last series as captain thats for sure.

 

[Yatoo]

Shouldn't be in the side if he isn't the captain

Same with

Hafeez
Shafiq
Rizwan
Riaz
Nawaz

I expect him to get a chance along with hafeez to play as a batsman in WI tour so we will still be awful

Both hafeez and azhar won't start in playing 11 if one wasn't captain

 

[Yatoo]

It should be his last series as captain thats for sure.

Sirfaraz should be made captain in all formats

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Sirfaraz should be made captain in all formats

Needs to step up first.Has been poor as a WK generally over the past few years [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

 

[Yatoo]

Needs to step up first.Has been poor as a WK generally over the past few yesrs

He hasn't been that poor. He keeping is okish but he is one of our best batsmen across two formats.
And his captaincy is far better than Azhar Ali

 

[Yatoo]

Saving his best bowler for last three overs. Shows his defensive mindset

 

[iRfaN_LA]

nothing will change.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Inshallah it is. Doesn't belong near ODI cricket as a player let alone captain

 

[JibranAnsari]

Its just the beginning , he is a gun ODI player.

 

[Da_Future_Knick]

Without a doubt, Azhar Ali's last series as captain

 

[Brilliance]

For God's sake please through him out. He is making me furious. I mean how can he put away Hassan Ali after he's just got two wickets in the over and more importantly Maxwell is struggling against him. How on earth. Oh please I can't stand this shi't anymore.

 

[Syed1]

Inshallah we will finally see the end of this depressing era of Pakistan cricket.