Azhar Ali resigns as ODI captain, Test vice-captain - Sarfraz Ahmed to take over in ODIs

[ahmedwaqas92]

Lahore- February 9, 2017: Azhar Ali recently called on Chairman PCB Shaharyar M Khan and informed him that he wished to relinquish the captaincy of Pakistan’s ODI team mainly because it was affecting his batting form. Chairman PCB thanked him for his dignified leadership of the team and informed him that his standing in the team would not be affected by his relinquishing of the captaincy. After consulting relevant stakeholders, the Chairman has nominated Sarfraz Ahmed as captain of Pakistan’s ODI team for future series.

 

[MujahidT]

Finally...sigh of relief!

 

[Mamoon]

Shukar Alhamdulillah.

 

[Zohaib Shah]

Looks like it is legit after all. This is good news for Pakistan cricket. They should now drop him from the ODI side as well.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

I think he took the stats thread to heart

 

[bilalmasaud]

Aah but azhar ali would remain in the team ... atleast a few more series he would be dragged along

 

[Slog]

Aah but azhar ali would remain in the team ... atleast a few more series he would be dragged along

tbf he makes the side on merit as of now

 

[Mamoon]

I won't mind if Shehzad replaces Azhar as opener. I like to keep an open mind and I am impressed with his recent domestic performances in 50 overs. Seems like an misunderstood individual to me, a few individual sessions with Mickey might help him translate his domestic success in international cricket.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

A pointless appointment from PCB.

Was always destined to fail cos as a bat, he is very poor in LOIs.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Could be a good tactician from what others tell me.

Remains to be seen whether he can get his form back and hold his spot in the ODI team.

 

[godzilla]

let the countdown begin for the premature excitement to turn once again.

 

[Sports_Psychologist]

Finally Thank God, the sense prevails,
Thank you so.much Azhar for resigning you were never suited for this job neither you asked, Misbah and Waqar they are both responsible for the disgrace that has caught you over all this captaincy fiasco..
As a player you did your best, but you were never a captain material..

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

I won't mind if Shehzad replaces Azhar as opener. I like to keep an open mind and I am impressed with his recent domestic performances in 50 overs. Seems like an understood individual to me, a few individual sessions with Mickey might help him translate his domestic success in international cricket.

Yar Khuda ka Wasta hay Mamoon.....please Yar no more Tuk Tuk torture.

Shehzad is extremely limited !! Extremely !!

 

[Sports_Psychologist]

Finally Thank God, the sense prevails, Thank you so.much Azhar for resigning you were never suited for this job neither you asked, Misbah and Waqar they are both responsible for the disgrace that has caught you over all this captaincy fiasco.. As a player you did your best, but you were never a captain material..

 

[Yatoo]

Could be a good tactician from what others tell me.

Remains to be seen whether he can get his form back and hold his spot in the ODI team.

He had a good English and West Indian Odi series.


35 - - 2 0 v West Indies Sharjah 30 Sep 2016 ODI # 3784
60* - - 0 0 v West Indies Sharjah 2 Oct 2016 ODI # 3788
24* - - 1 1 v West Indies Abu Dhabi

 

[Ahson8]

Top decision from Azhar, respect to him for (finally) doing the right thing. Good luck to Sarfraz as captain.
Azhar should stick to test matches where he has done really well mA.

 

[Shafi]

Finally!!!! Now he should be kick out from ODI along with Hafeez, Shafiq, Rizwan, Rahat, Irfan and Nawaz.
Wahab should be given 1 -2 last chance/s.
Why took him so long to resign? Also will Shahriar Khan accept his resignation?

 

[PakLFC]

Good news. Azhar is to slow and boring to be a one day captain. We need a proactive captain at the helm who can adjust according to the situation. Azhar's negativity is contagious that effects the entire team. In the current squad Sarfaraz would be the natural choice to lead the boy's.

 

[hadi123]

Good thing that he has quit before being sacked. Hopefully he is dropped altogether cos he is not suited to modern game. In tests however he is probably our best player

 

[Speedster1]

About time ..

 

[Amjid Javed]

Well done Azhar, now he just needs to retire from ODIs or not be selected.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Finally!Should be played for a couple of series and should be dropped permanently if his performance isn't up to the mark.

 

[Sherlock]

Major props for being man enough to quit. Then again he likely knew what was around the corner too.

 

[run-out]

He has done bad as an opener
Should PCB continue him as an opener?

 

[saeed5646]

Shukar Alhamdulillah.

 

[moghul]

I will be happier when Misbah is replaced by someone. What PCB is waiting for.

Correct decision but after his heroic test performance downunder , Azhar should be test captain now.

 

[Syed1]

The first thing I read this morning. Certainly put me in a good mood.

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

Interesting development. Sarfaraz IMO should do well as a captain.

Also, does this make Misbah's position as a test captain almost untenable? If a 32 yr old captain is quitting after not so good performances, a 42 year old surely cannot be allowed to keep his position after two back to back poor tours and struggling personal form.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

He has said on Twitter that he has also resigned as VC of the Test team.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just to add from earlier statement from the chairman I am also stepping down as test vice captain .</p>— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AzharAli_/status/829657467739004928">February 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thanks to all the coaches ,managers and players for there support throughout</p>— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AzharAli_/status/829661087666561024">February 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations and best wishes <a href="https://twitter.com/SarfarazA_54">@SarfarazA_54</a> for for becoming new ODI captain and thanks for ur support in all the difficult times.</p>— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AzharAli_/status/829662297907826690">February 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ExpressPacer]

Thank God. This took too long but better late than never. However, I think Azhar Ali, by calling it a day himself instead of waiting to be sacked like Afridi has secured himself a spot in the ODI team. At least for the next 2 series. This worries me because we need to introduce new openers and prepare for the CT.

 

[Boi]

Hope people can stop calling him selfish and cowardly now, especially after he's also given up Test vice captaincy.

Now he can focus completely on his batting and make his name as one of our best Test players ever.

 

[Zeshan547]

Azhar should have also revised from ODIs, because otherwise our naive selectors won't drop him any time soon as a player from ODI team.

 

[Major]

poor stuff by Azhar ALi. Should had not resigned. He should had kept his place even if PCB were going to remove him themselves.

You gotta fight for yourself, not give it away.

 

[MRSN]

oh no!! He has made it tough for Misbsh now. Misbah's best bet was Azhar stays solid as ODI captain as all the eyes would have been on him. Now all the pressure is back on Misbah.

 

[Hawkeye]

Good news.

HOWEVER - Sarfraz taking over isn't much of an upgrade. People seem to be going ecstatic, but they don't realize what's going to happen.

Sarfraz isn't an ideal bat to have in the modern LOI era, and all those celebrating will call for his head after 1-2 years.

Our people simply don't have a vision, and don't want to live in the 90s/early 2000s.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Good news, especially that he also resigned as test VC, but this is all soured by the fact he will continue to play in ODIS. No doubt that would have been part of discussions.

Needs to be completely gone from a greeen shirt and just focus not tests.

Not like he merits a spot anyways

 

[TalhaSyed]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just to add from earlier statement from the chairman I am also stepping down as test vice captain .</p>— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AzharAli_/status/829657467739004928">February 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That interesting...

Are PCB looking to move towards making Sarfraz captain in all 3 formats?

 

[Shafi]

poor stuff by Azhar ALi. Should had not resigned. He should had kept his place even if PCB were going to remove him themselves.

You gotta fight for yourself, not give it away.

Just like Misbah hang on after loosing 5 tests. We care about winning not about personal favoritism.
So based on your idea Md Sami, Gul, Razzaq, Ajmal, Hafeez, Shafiq, Rahat.... should fight to be in ODI squad.

 

[Rayyman]

Thank Allah.

Sarfraz will most likely do well as captain in LOIs. I think he might struggle in Test matches though.

 

[Shafi]

That interesting...

Are PCB looking to move towards making Sarfraz captain in all 3 formats?

Great!!!!! But Sarfraz shouldn't be T20 captain

 

[Slog]

A wasted 2 years...

Id been very critical of his potential appointment when the news first broke of him being ODI captain but decided to back him anyway due to lack of other significantly better alternatives.

Now whoever is the new captain will have to go into a Champions Trophy very early and have the inevitable disaster fall on his shoulders. Due to this it would have been a clean break if the new captain was appointed post-CT. And if somehow we did well then great as is.

For me the ideal scenario (which I was proposing after WC-15) would have been to appoint Shoaib Malik in the short term and see where that goes and then have Sarfaraz come in.

 

[run-out]

He has done bad as an opener
Should PCB continue him as an opener?

Not*

 

[TalhaSyed]

Great!!!!! But Sarfraz shouldn't be T20 captain

Hmm could be a lot of pressure & work load on Sarfraz to keep wickets and captain across all 3 formats.

However, giving the T20 captaincy to someone like Imad or Babar at this stage seems too soon and I'm struggling to see any one else who could be T20 skipper.

 

[nextover666666]

I like sarfraz but I believe he should only captain 2 formats, t20 and test cricket for ODI, cricket, I would have given to Imad Wasim, I believe an all-rounder for ODI cricket captain is the way to go, regardless would like to wish Sarfraz the best in regards to captaining the ODI team

 

[Bewal Express]

In a yrs time there will be calls for Sarfrazs head. The bigger issue is the terrible players and that isnt going to change with the change of captain.

 

[Syed1]

I'm glad the protege has more sense of responsibility than the master.

 

[Rayyman]

I'm glad the protege has more sense of responsibility than the master.

He is 10x the batsman as well. Looks like Pak cricket is improving.

 

[Ami]

Sharjeel to open with sarfaraz...why not?
Shahzad: even if he sorts out his attitude, his odi game is still very limited.
But he cud do well in tests...sharjeel with shahzad or sami

 

[coy0607]

hallelujah, common sense prevails

Good on Azhar for taking responsibility and giving up captaincy rather than have it snatched

 

[Stallion__]

Tactics, On-field presence, man management, he don't tick any of the boxes.

Still remember his first match as captain where he started with a solitary slip with new ball, brought part-timers from both ends when opposition had just lost their in-form batsman and were meandering along at 3.5 rpo. And he didn't change them till they completed their quota

Anyways, good luck to Azhar the batsman. Took a team man's decision

 

[sshakir411]

Feel for Azhar..but this should help him focus on his game. I'll take him over Shehzad, anyday.

 

[Syed1]

Tactics, On-field presence, man management, he don't tick any of the boxes.

Still remember his first match as captain where he started with a solitary slip with new ball, brought part-timers from both ends when opposition had just lost their in-form batsman and were meandering along at 3.5 rpo. And he didn't change them till they completed their quota

Anyways, good luck to Azhar the batsman. Took a team man's decision

Even in the Australia series. Australia were 80 odd for 5 and Azhar sahab kept bowling spinners. Which led them to an eventual score of 270/9. Then he came out to bat and scored a brisk 24(48).

 

[Seamer]

He should move down to third

1. Sharjeel Khan
2. Sarfaraz Ahmed
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Haris Sohail
6. U Akmal

 

[Jabo]

Good.

But he likely will still want to play as a batsman and PCB are stupid enough to give him a chance against WI.

With Azhar out now, hopefully that means no more Shafiq.

 

[Big Mac]

OK so how long will it take for the narrative to change from "The team is losing because Misbah/Azhar failed to build a good team for Sarfraz" to "Sarfraz is a cowardly, brainless captain. We need someone young and aggressive instead of all these TTFs!"

 

[The_Odd_One]

I have always liked Azhar as a cricketer and an individual. Glad that he resigned from captaincy instead of getting sacked. He is not an ODI batsman but he is indeed the most dependable test batsman for Pakistan.

 

[Square Drive]

Thank God!

Interesting how he's leaving his Test vice-captaincy as well. Guess Sarfraz will now captain us in all 3 formats, by the Bangladesh tour at the very least.

 

[Hawkeye]

OK so how long will it take for the narrative to change from "The team is losing because Misbah/Azhar failed to build a good team for Sarfraz" to "Sarfraz is a cowardly, brainless captain. We need someone young and aggressive instead of all these TTFs!"

Not worth it to back a guy who doesn't truly belong in a particular format.

I'm sure the "sack him!" "TTF!!111" calls are going to be out for him in the next 1-2 years, by the same guys celebrating today.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Azhar can now focus on having a long test career as an opening batsmen for maybe 5 years+ from now

 

[Markhor]

Good news.

HOWEVER - Sarfraz taking over isn't much of an upgrade. People seem to be going ecstatic, but they don't realize what's going to happen.

Sarfraz isn't an ideal bat to have in the modern LOI era, and all those celebrating will call for his head after 1-2 years.

Our people simply don't have a vision, and don't want to live in the 90s/early 2000s.

Is this based on any fact or a simple personal bias ? Sarfraz's average and SR in his last four ODI series have been 38/89, 35/89, 60/91 in England (best batsmen out of both teams) and 119/101. His career SR is 88 which hardly reminiscent of the 1990s and we don't have many batsmen who can play at that rate. He's the best runner between the wicket we have and best rotator of strike.

Where your argument does have merit is that he's not an explosive boundary hitting player. We can afford one player like Sarfraz in the middle-order but when we have him surrounded by other accumulators like Malik then its an issue.

There's not many decent wicketkeeper batsmen out there - Rizwan's batting is a joke (best finisher my foot). We gave Umar Akmal the gloves and that didn't work out. Bismillah Khan has a poor domestic record. Who are you replacing him with ?

As for the captaincy - he has shown tactical awareness in his brief stint as T20I captain and in domestic/U19 cricket. Its the logical call.

 

[Hasan123]

The right decision has been made by Azhar for the betterment of Pakistan cricket. Under his captaincy we were going nowhere as a side. Hopefully he is dropped from the odi team as well.

The protage showing more sense than the mentor.

 

[Don Quixote]

First step towards revolution in Pakistan cricket.

 

[Hawkeye]

Is this based on any fact or a simple personal bias ? Sarfraz's average and SR in his last four ODI series have been 38/89, 35/89, 60/91 in England (best batsmen out of both teams) and 119/101. His career SR is 88 which hardly reminiscent of the 1990s and we don't have many batsmen who can play at that rate. He's the best runner between the wicket we have and best rotator of strike.

Where your argument does have merit is that he's not an explosive boundary hitting player. We can afford one player like Sarfraz in the middle-order but when we have him surrounded by other accumulators like Malik then its an issue.

There's not many decent wicketkeeper batsmen out there - Rizwan's batting is a joke (best finisher my foot). We gave Umar Akmal the gloves and that didn't work out. Bismillah Khan has a poor domestic record. Who are you replacing him with ?

As for the captaincy - he has shown tactical awareness in his brief stint as T20I captain and in domestic/U19 cricket. Its the logical call.

Yes, my argument is based on the fact that he can't dominate bowlers and can't accelerate at will. Especially against the pacer.

You're right that we can afford one such player, but then you're forgetting we have better strike rotators who are more dynamic than him in Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, even imam and saud.

Based purely on stats Fawad Alam, Sarfraz and Malik have decent strike rates but we're aware of their deficiencies too.

So, I fail to see why he would be needed in my ideal LOI team. Or a team that can consistently put 320+ totals or chase them.

 

[Speedster777]

Best news!!! Sarfraz would be awesome!

 

[Markhor]

Yes, my argument is based on the fact that he can't dominate bowlers and can't accelerate at will. Especially against the pacer.

You're right that we can afford one such player, but then you're forgetting we have better strike rotators who are more dynamic than him in Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, even imam and saud.

Based purely on stats Fawad Alam, Sarfraz and Malik have decent strike rates but we're aware of their deficiencies too.

So, I fail to see why he would be needed in my ideal LOI team. Or a team that can consistently put 320+ totals or chase them.

Who's keeping wickets in your team then ?

 

[Don Quixote]

The only concern I have, regarding Sarfraz, is that he struggles to hit a six.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Lol at "resigns." Sacked is the accurate description.

 

[Hawkeye]

Who's keeping wickets in your team then ?

Umar Akmal can keep well enough in LOIs, has done it and proven himself.

The only concern I have, regarding Sarfraz, is that he struggles to hit a six.

Just see what people do to him after 1-2 years, all those celebrating wil be calling him "TTF", "too slow", "sack him now!".

 

[Don Quixote]

Umar Akmal can keep well enough in LOIs, has done it and proven himself.



Just see what people do to him after 1-2 years, all those celebrating wil be calling him "TTF", "too slow", "sack him now!".

Rizwan > Umar Akmal.

 

[ExplicitAI]

Finally! Now we can start competing with top teams.

 

[coy0607]

That interesting...

Are PCB looking to move towards making Sarfraz captain in all 3 formats?

I don't really think there's another option now

Maybe Younis for a year, but that doesn't accomplish much either because what happens after a year

 

[ask_analyse_act]

In a yrs time there will be calls for Sarfrazs head. The bigger issue is the terrible players and that isnt going to change with the change of captain.

if a change in captain can make the difference and win a game against AUS in AUS for a no.9 ranked team then why not...I'm not saying sarfraz will win every game, but he will improve the team from no.8 to no.6 very quickly

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Now Azhar will transform into a 85+ SR high octane batter I think not.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Excellent news. Should stick to Test cricket where he is our best batsman.

 

[Syed1]

Now Azhar will transform into a 85+ SR high octane batter I think not.

More chance of a snowy day in hell

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Unfortunately Pakistan cricket wont go anywhere with just Azhar quitting his captaincy.

England went through a similar phase, where Cook quit captaincy right before 2015 Wcup, but they continued with Morgan under the same team and culture and had a disastrous tournament. And then they decided they need players that can play.

A loss is a loss, it doesn't matter if you lose respectably or by huge margin but at least if you back the players that are capable to play modern day ODI style you are changing your culture and who knows when you find a few set of players that change your team's forture?

It is ridiculous to keep trying the same team when clearly its done nothing but got you down to no.8/9 in rankings and on the verge of being the only major cricketing nation to have to go through qualifiers to be in world cup.

 

[Big Mac]

Unfortunately Pakistan cricket wont go anywhere with just Azhar quitting his captaincy.

England went through a similar phase, where Cook quit captaincy right before 2015 Wcup, but they continued with Morgan under the same team and culture and had a disastrous tournament. And then they decided they need players that can play.

A loss is a loss, it doesn't matter if you lose respectably or by huge margin but at least if you back the players that are capable to play modern day ODI style you are changing your culture and who knows when you find a few set of players that change your team's forture?

It is ridiculous to keep trying the same team when clearly its done nothing but got you down to no.8/9 in rankings and on the verge of being the only major cricketing nation to have to go through qualifiers to be in world cup.

England are able to play that way because they have batting depth like I've never seen before. They've put out ODI teams where every member of the playing XI has scored multiple first class centuries.

Where are our bowlers who can bat that well? The guys batting at 9 or 10 for England would bat at 6 or 7 for us.

We can talk about changing the mindset or culture until we're blue in the face but none of it matters if we don't have the players.

 

[Square Drive]

Umar Akmal can keep well enough in LOIs, has done it and proven himself.

That's just as harsh as making Misbah keep wickets.

UA is not a WK; he was forced to keep.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

England are able to play that way because they have batting depth like I've never seen before. They've put out ODI teams where every member of the playing XI has scored multiple first class centuries.

Where are our bowlers who can bat that well? The guys batting at 9 or 10 for England would bat at 6 or 7 for us.

We can talk about changing the mindset or culture until we're blue in the face but none of it matters if we don't have the players.

They backed those players. It looks a solid team now but it was Eng vs NZ series that really set off this team on an ascend.

I am sure Pakistan have similar sort of players in domestic cricket. PSL is your best bet to find those prospective players. Anyway continuing with current players isn't going to do you any good. I don't think it matters if you lose scoring a 'respectable' 200-220 or get all out for 150 trying to play positively.