Azhar Ali's innings against India (50 off 65)

[IM NOT YOU]

my 2 cents:

1) hes awful. bye bye

2) rubbish to say "he showed intent". he attempted one six and was 30 meters short... and then got scared and played selfishly for 50 exactly before he attempted a second big shot right after getting his 50. shameless , selfish, unacceptable.

 

[shaz619]

Am not his biggest fan in ODI's but he showed more heart and fight then the entire XI combined today. He has his deficiencies but he gives his all and wears his heart on his sleeve so I got to respect that.

 

[Ami]

Stop blaming Azhar Ali...he was trying.
Rest are rubbish.
I must have come on these threads so many times to say this...only sarfaraz babar and to an extent malik shud be in top 6.
Rest...no.

 

[KyoOne]

Poor match awareness. To think of, he was our captain not long ago!

 

[amvbfm]

as painful it was I did watch the whole game. He was dancing on the pitch even though he was put down like twice yet he managed to score 50 at a strike rate of 77 chasing a target at almost 8 runs per over. I also watched his pathetic 5 dots when he was stuck on 49. I also witnessed once again his inability to time the ball despite spending 10 overs at the crease. Picking Azhar Ali just shows how defensive and timid Pakistan's approach is. You are not going to win matches with a player who can't rotate the strike to save his life and is playing as an accumulator. An accumulator is at least master of rotating the strike. Azhar Ali doesn't even fall into that category.

So what do you suggest? Drop Azhar and retain Shahzad and Hafeez? I know cricket has moved on and he is a test player, yada yada but at least he made some runs, almost 1/3 of the team's total. Given how the others batted we wouldn't even have managed 164 without his innings. Criticism is good but singling out someone just because he doesn't fit what you think is right and regardless of context and performance is absurd. Azhar was by no means bad today, he had a good strike rate against all the fast bowlers and only struggled against jadeja. To put it into context Rohit played a similar innings and laid the platform for Kohli and Yuvraj to hit out. It's not Azhar's mistake that our middle order failed so miserably.

 

[Slog]

This is actually a very poor thread

Sometimes I wonder what game are fans are even watching and whether they understand the game at all

Azhar was actually going at a good rate of 85 for majority of his innings.

It was only when Jadeja came on when he and Hafeez came under the pump due to tight bowling

Most certainly not even among top 8 players culpable for loss today

 

[Last Monetarist]

He was mediocre, but less culpable than the two charlatans Shehzad and Hafeez.

 

[Lynx]

Some of the posters here have absolutely no sense about the game itself and lack putting things into context. Criticizing Azhar out of all people? Really? Were you watching the same match as the rest of us? Poor, poor thread and people who're supporting this claim are exactly what's wrong with our cricket fan base in general.

 

[shah_1]

This is actually a very poor thread

Sometimes I wonder what game are fans are even watching and whether they understand the game at all

Azhar was actually going at a good rate of 85 for majority of his innings.

It was only when Jadeja came on when he and Hafeez came under the pump due to tight bowling

Most certainly not even among top 8 players culpable for loss today

He is not a reason for the loss in this match but he is one of the reason why Pakistan's ODI batting sucks.

Azhar was a total flop after 10 overs, hence he should never be selected for Pakistan in ODI. He can't place the ball when the field is spread and struggles to take singles.

 

[HateKiller]

Azhar played well. He slowed down a bit later but at that time Hafeez should have taken the baton of quick scoring. But Hafeez didn't and Azhar had to go for it.
Cricket is a team game - if you see your partner slowing down , you take the pressure off him. After a while partner will regain his touch and start scoring.
That is what top teams do and become successful.

 

[DanishJamil]

He tried his level best, no problem with azhar ali. If i was sarfaraz i would've smashed the hell out of hafeez, wahab, shehzad with the bat.

 

[LegendAli]

Some of the posters here have absolutely no sense about the game itself and lack putting things into context. Criticizing Azhar out of all people? Really? Were you watching the same match as the rest of us? Poor, poor thread and people who're supporting this claim are exactly what's wrong with our cricket fan base in general.

This is actually a very poor thread

Sometimes I wonder what game are fans are even watching and whether they understand the game at all

Azhar was actually going at a good rate of 85 for majority of his innings.

It was only when Jadeja came on when he and Hafeez came under the pump due to tight bowling

Most certainly not even among top 8 players culpable for loss today

Stop blaming Azhar Ali...he was trying.
Rest are rubbish.
I must have come on these threads so many times to say this...only sarfaraz babar and to an extent malik shud be in top 6.
Rest...no.

Those defending Azhar Ali should be downright ashamed of themselves.

How exactly was he showing heart and guts when he played as many dot balls as he did?

He was sent out there to give it a go, start things on a positive note, we're chasing 320!!!!

The fact is he played that inning as an opener, played constant dot balls, too many dot balls, the fact that you're proud of his 85 SR speaks for itself my friend.

This is the same guy that got dropped as captain and then from the team, why was he brought back? on what merit was he brought back?

He is brought back because of the right hook ups and plays like this and you're asking us why we're judging him harshly?

 

[shaz619]

Those criticising this innings did not watch the game, Azhar maintained a great rate throughout and only got into a bit of a rut towards the end but he still ended the innings with a better S/R then Rohit. He gets a lot of slack but after this knock by respect for him has grown even more, he displayed so much bottle, heart and fight; it's a testament to his mental strength and I think he should play ahead of shehzad.

 

[muqarrab]

Wonderful batting on day 5 against India. Someone forgot to tell him he's playing in coloured clothing?

I hope any supporters of this waste of space retire from watching this sport since they have absolutely no clue. Arthur's continuous selection of Wahab and Azhar has cost Pakistan a must win match. Hope he's ecstatic about this.

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He showed more intent than shehzad an hafeez....before dropping azhar we should kick out shahazad and hafeez

 

[Usman Chadda]

He showed more intent than shehzad an hafeez....before dropping azhar we should kick out shahazad and hafeez

As I said, Shehzad and Hafeez should also be held accountable. But you have enough threads on them as is on this forum. My question is simple: How on earth does Azhar Ali find a place in an international ODI line-up in 2017 is beyond me. He is useless and pointless and we should have given Fakhar the license to go out there and enjoy the moment.

Umesh Yadav bowled some absolute rubbish to Azhar in the 12th or 13th over. Half volley after half volley, which Azhar kept squeezing out meekly to extra cover or short cover consistently. Required run rate kept going up. Just thinking about this makes my blood boil.

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[Usman Chadda]

Not his fan, just being fair to the guy. This guy was going at run a ball, when selfie king had no idea what he was doing out there. He was doing fine but people (Shehzad, Azam, Hafeez) on the other end choked.

I know Azhar Ali is not an ODI player, and should not have been in the team. But it's not his fault that Inzi and Mickey selected him in the squad. He gave his best, and he was clearly the best batsman for Pakistan today.

You made a whole post just to call him some name, but still dont want to accept the fact that there were other who performed a lot worse. If you were being fair, then this post would have been about Shehzad and Hafeez, not Azhar Ali.

Shehzad and Hafeez have threads already on them, doubt we need one more. What we do need is to realize a 65-ball 50 in which 60% were dot deliveries is not good enough for an ODI team in 2017. Its not just about this match, its about the future basically since I never really expected Pakistan to compete in this CT. Its not Azhar's fault he is selected by Inzi and Arthur, so I as a fan should have to sit through this pathetic excuse for an LOI player tarnish my country's image on the world stage, knowing full well he will never amount to anything in his career?

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[todfod 11]

Wonderful batting on day 5 against India. Someone forgot to tell him he's playing in coloured clothing?

I hope any supporters of this waste of space retire from watching this sport since they have absolutely no clue. Arthur's continuous selection of Wahab and Azhar has cost Pakistan a must win match. Hope he's ecstatic about this.

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I think you are just mad.. you blaming the beat batsmen.. he got pakistan the a great start but shehzad tje one whi wasntt scoring and as usual got out with 11 of 23 balls. Azhar was playing well.

 

[heddie19]

Shehzad and Hafeez have threads already on them, doubt we need one more. What we do need is to realize a 65-ball 50 in which 60% were dot deliveries is not good enough for an ODI team in 2017. Its not just about this match, its about the future basically since I never really expected Pakistan to compete in this CT. Its not Azhar's fault he is selected by Inzi and Arthur, so I as a fan should have to sit through this pathetic excuse for an LOI player tarnish my country's image on the world stage, knowing full well he will never amount to anything in his career?

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And what about those who are spitting on Pakistan's image from decade and still find themselves selected and no one talks about them. Stop making Azhar Ali scapegoat every time he is not the captain anymore. And out of 10 batsman he is the only one who showed courage despite of having limited amount of shots

 

[coy0607]

He tried his best but he really shouldn't have been selected in the first place.

Everyone tries their best - even Wahab tried his best

At this point Azhar has proven that he isn't an ODI batsmen- his failure now is not a reflection on him but a reflection on Inzamam the crook

 

[Usman Chadda]

And what about those who are spitting on Pakistan's image from decade and still find themselves selected and no one talks about them. Stop making Azhar Ali scapegoat every time he is not the captain anymore. And out of 10 batsman he is the only one who showed courage despite of having limited amount of shots

And he should continue to play even with his limited strokeplay? Has everyone jumped on the Azhar Ali bandwagon because he scored a 65-ball 50 in which 60% were dot deliveries? And then we wonder why our cricket is in the gutter. Are we really so pathetic where we are willing to accept Azhar Ali as an opener in a modern day One Day International line-up? Stop giving these nobodies the benefit of the doubt!

Also, where in this thread have I said Hafeez and Shehzad deserve to stay in the team? The words I reserve for these two individuals I cannot even repeat on this forum.

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[Usman Chadda]

I think you are just mad.. you blaming the beat batsmen.. he got pakistan the a great start but shehzad tje one whi wasntt scoring and as usual got out with 11 of 23 balls. Azhar was playing well.

Ignoring the personal remark, please refer to my post above. I don't think anyone has really understood what this thread is about. Mubarak ho aap logon ko Azhar Ali agle 10-15 matches ke liye.

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[imranyounus]

as if all around him playes were scoring at strike rate of 150.
some people here think it all one mens fault. first it was misba now Azhar. insted of pointing out the real fault just point scoring
All I can say pathetic thread

 

[heddie19]

And he should continue to play even with his limited strokeplay? Has everyone jumped on the Azhar Ali bandwagon because he scored a 65-ball 50 in which 60% were dot deliveries? And then we wonder why our cricket is in the gutter. Are we really so pathetic where we are willing to accept Azhar Ali as an opener in a modern day One Day International line-up? Stop giving these nobodies the benefit of the doubt!

Also, where in this thread have I said Hafeez and Shehzad deserve to stay in the team? The words I reserve for these two individuals I cannot even repeat on this forum.

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Not talking about that but do you have anything personal against azhar ali ?
No body has jumped on azhar's bandwagon on an average innings but there are less competent players than him who are in the team for decades and one is for 2 decades. This targeting the wrong guy mentality is why our cricket is going into the the gutter not azhar's opening. Yes he is no amla but he is the best bet we have after sherjeel is gone. Thats the sad part. I don't want Azhar to play LOI but my heart bleeds as it bled worse players getting 3x LOIs than him. Find opening talent, nurture him and kick azhar ali out.

 

[heddie19]

oo bhai azhar ali ko aglay 100 matches bhi khelne chaiye if next best opening batsman to him is shehzad.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Not talking about that but do you have anything personal against azhar ali ?
No body has jumped on azhar's bandwagon on an average innings but there are less competent players than him who are in the team for decades and one is for 2 decades. This targeting the wrong guy mentality is why our cricket is going into the the gutter not azhar's opening. Yes he is no amla but he is the best bet we have after sherjeel is gone. Thats the sad part. I don't want Azhar to play LOI but my heart bleeds as it bled worse players getting 3x LOIs than him. Find opening talent, nurture him and kick azhar ali out.

Right, so you're saying if Shehzad somehow scores a 70-ball 50 next game chasing 320 and Azhar gets his pole knocked back by Rabada for a 14-ball 3, I shouldn't open a thread bashing Shehzad for an inconsequential innings which will never win you LOI games? If yes, then Allah hi haafiz hai is mulk ke fans ka.

Other incompetent players already have threads on them.

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[heddie19]

Right, so you're saying if Shehzad somehow scores a 70-ball 50 next game chasing 320 and Azhar gets his pole knocked back by Rabada for a 14-ball 3, I shouldn't open a thread bashing Shehzad for an inconsequential innings which will never win you LOI games? If yes, then Allah hi haafiz hai is mulk ke fans ka.

Other incompetent players already have threads on them.

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The sad part is we can't do much about useless players unless we find better replacements of them. You'd see same wahab riaz getting selected for next 5-7 years because he is might fast etc etc. My point was that azhar was the least culprit today. Yes as i said, He is no amla. Similarly Malik is no AB, Hafeez is no smith, Sarfraz is no dhoni, Shehzad is no rohit. etc etc

 

[Usman Chadda]

The sad part is we can't do much about useless players unless we find better replacements of them. You'd see same wahab riaz getting selected for next 5-7 years because he is might fast etc etc. My point was that azhar was the least culprit today. Yes as i said, He is no amla. Similarly Malik is no AB, Hafeez is no smith, Sarfraz is no dhoni, Shehzad is no rohit. etc etc

You do know Azhar Ali did not play the Pakistan Cup recently. He was dropped for the Windies series and he comes right back in for a major tournament after not being considered good enough. Khurram Manzoor, Sami Aslam, Sahibzada Farhan etc were consistent performers in that tournament (none of whom I'm advocating getting picked btw). And guess who was one other major scorer of that competition? Fakhar Zaman.

You have left out one of the top scorers of your premier ODI domestic competitions on the bench for a player who wasn't considered good enough for your team a few months ago? I hope you realize now where this frustration is coming from.

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[saeedhk]

He would have been an absolute legendary batsman if it was the early 1990's. He doesn't belong to this era of modern and fast cricket.

 

[superman]

Everyone tries their best - even Wahab tried his best

At this point Azhar has proven that he isn't an ODI batsmen- his failure now is not a reflection on him but a reflection on Inzamam the crook

If that was shehzad and hafeez trying their best then how do i get my 8 year old neice to play

 

[todfod 11]

Ignoring the personal remark, please refer to my post above. I don't think anyone has really understood what this thread is about. Mubarak ho aap logon ko Azhar Ali agle 10-15 matches ke liye.

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Bhai azhar was playing at 35 of 31 balls at one stage but the the downright third grade opener on the other end was tuk tuking his way. Then i dont understand wh u blaming azhar or is it a way to hide shehzad some how by blaming others??

 

[Usman Chadda]

Bhai azhar was playing at 35 of 31 balls at one stage but the the downright third grade opener on the other end was tuk tuking his way. Then i dont understand wh u blaming azhar or is it a way to hide shehzad some how by blaming others??

Yes I'm a massive Shehzad fan going by my earlier posts. This thread was not JUST about this match. And Azhar's innings was still inconsequential and utterly useless. No amount of rubbish from Hafeez or Shehzad or anybody else is going to change that. This thread is about Azhar Ali, his performance today and his future with the Pakistan cricket ODI team.

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[todfod 11]

Yes I'm a massive Shehzad fan going by my earlier posts. This thread was not JUST about this match. And Azhar's innings was still inconsequential and utterly useless. No amount of rubbish from Hafeez or Shehzad or anybody else is going to change that. This thread is about Azhar Ali, his performance today and his future with the Pakistan cricket ODI team.

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If by creating a thread where u blame the player who actually batted well till last few balls of his innings then i m sorry but i have no words for it.

 

[pakistan cricket fan]

Not a ODI player simple.

 

[Haroon786]

Am not his biggest fan in ODI's but he showed more heart and fight then the entire XI combined today. He has his deficiencies but he gives his all and wears his heart on his sleeve so I got to respect that.

This.

If he hadn't scored runs then the margin of loss would've been 200 + runs.

 

[hailian]

This phateecher nation doesn't deserve honest people until there is some dirt comes with frills. He was only one tried to anchor the innings from one end and this phateecher nation will criticize him only. No wonder we don't deserve something good.

 

[Speedster777]

Should be dropped from ODIs

 

[Speedster777]

He played a selfish innings. His fifty has zero value when the team has lost the match with over 100 margin.

 

[Khwaja]

Pakpassion'ers are known to have horrible judgement, analysis, and ABSOLUTELY NO knowledge of cricket. There are old threads about how Asad Shafiq is the future tendulkar for Pakistan. LMAO... and now they are blaming Azhar for this loss, a man who gave his effort and achieved some decent runs... while on the other end, batsmen were getting out for ducks and blocking every delivery their way... Azhar was simply the BEST batsman of Pakistan in this match, better than Sarfaraz, Babar, Hafeez, Shehzad, Imad, etc. his strike rate was arguably much better than others' on the team... and his temperament much better and not Like THE defensive wusses on the team... PCB should give him another chance against SA

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Pakpassion'ers are known to have horrible judgement, analysis, and ABSOLUTELY NO knowledge of cricket. There are old threads about how Asad Shafiq is the future tendulkar for Pakistan. LMAO... and now they are blaming Azhar for this loss, a man who gave his effort and achieved some decent runs... while on the other end, batsmen were getting out for ducks and blocking every delivery their way... Azhar was simply the BEST batsman of Pakistan in this match, better than Sarfaraz, Babar, Hafeez, Shehzad, Imad, etc. his strike rate was arguably much better than others' on the team... and his temperament much better and not Like THE defensive wusses on the team... PCB should give him another chance against SA

You are absolutely right.

On merit, on the basis of this match, Azhar was the only batsmen who tried.

But PCB and fans have personal agendas.

So they will want Azhar dropped because he doesn't fit into their agenda and replaced with another hack who has potential but might never perform because it suits their agenda.

Azhar played out of his skin yesterday and you can't ask more from him.

That's his limitation.

Can the same be said for Shehzad, Hafeez, Sarfraz, Babar etc?

All of them failed miserably and did NOT EVEN TRY TO GO FOR WIN.

 

[hisham_ashraf]

With this half century he has kept his place in the team for this tournament
Fakhar has to replace Shahzad,Haris instead of the professor ,Junaid/Fahim instead of Wahab.Then we can lose with some pride against S.A

 

[amvbfm]

Those defending Azhar Ali should be downright ashamed of themselves.

How exactly was he showing heart and guts when he played as many dot balls as he did?

He was sent out there to give it a go, start things on a positive note, we're chasing 320!!!!

The fact is he played that inning as an opener, played constant dot balls, too many dot balls, the fact that you're proud of his 85 SR speaks for itself my friend.

This is the same guy that got dropped as captain and then from the team, why was he brought back? on what merit was he brought back?

He is brought back because of the right hook ups and plays like this and you're asking us why we're judging him harshly?

I don't see why anyone should be ashamed of defending Azhar.

In his partnership with Shahzad, he contributed 32 out of 47 runs at a run a ball. Once Babar fell he was forced to be slightly more circumspect (even then he played well against the seamers and only after Jadeja came on did he falter badly). Had he hit out at that point and gotten dismissed the same lot of you would have called for his head for playing an irresponsible shot.

Also tired with this rather mindless argument that I hear every day that every player in an ODI has to score at over 100. As Rohit proved in the first innings you can still afford one or two players to go at 80-90 or even lower as long as your middle order bats and lower order power hitters can make up for it. I don't understand why all the blame is being apportioned to a player who is known to be incapable of scoring above 80-90. Considering his limitations he played perfectly well. And saying that he shouldn't have been picked (to which I agree to a large extent) is a pointless argument at this stage.

 

[Someone]

Well no one blaming golden boy.. BABAR AZAM the Pak's Kholi

 

[Analyze1]

just retire from one day

 

[amvbfm]

As I said, Shehzad and Hafeez should also be held accountable. But you have enough threads on them as is on this forum. My question is simple: How on earth does Azhar Ali find a place in an international ODI line-up in 2017 is beyond me. He is useless and pointless and we should have given Fakhar the license to go out there and enjoy the moment.

Umesh Yadav bowled some absolute rubbish to Azhar in the 12th or 13th over. Half volley after half volley, which Azhar kept squeezing out meekly to extra cover or short cover consistently. Required run rate kept going up. Just thinking about this makes my blood boil.

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He has found a place in the team because you don't have many other options. Azhar might not be suited to the modern one day game but at least you can expect him to contribute at least a solid 30-40 at a SR of 75-90 every time. The rest of the hacks calling themselves openers don't even have the ability to last 5 overs against quality bowling lineups. I know you will say there is Fakhar (I sincerely hope he comes off but having seen him play I think his game is rather limited at the moment and he will struggle against quality opposition) and Farhan (totally untested and only being talked about on the basis of a few innings in the Pakistan Cup). The only viable option I see at the moment and who again suffers due to the myopia of so-called Pakistani cricket experts and for perhaps not getting along with the establishment is Sami Aslam.

 

[hisham_ashraf]

Well no one blaming golden boy.. BABAR AZAM the Pak's Kholi

He just didn't got going,had to attack but unfortunately picked out India's best fielder,while Shahzad and Hafeez were struggling and both played very slowly.

 

[MRSN]

39 dot balls by Azhar Ali! Is this acceptable from an accumulator?

Azhar Ali is supposed to anchor the innings yet chassing such a massive total he wasted 39 deliveries not taking doing anything. We all know he is not a big hitter and is playing purely for holding one end which is quite laughable as well..

but is this acceptable? Your opener playing 39 dot balls despite chasing a big total? How is a supposed to be an anchor be miserable at fundamental part of his game?

Azhar Ali's inability to rotate the strike may not have much problem for him in tests as there is lots and lots of time in test cricket but ODIs is quite a different format. You have to make every ball count.

Hopefully this is the last time we will see Azhar Ali in green shirts. Same for Shehzad. These players don't belong to this stage.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Azhar Ali has limitations but he always give his best , if you think there are better opener than him then don't select Ali, but as I have said before will going to say again that if Shezy, Akmal or Farhat are going to be selected then it is better to play Ali.

 

[MRSN]

Azhar Ali has limitations but he always give his best , if you think there are better opener than him then don't select Ali, but as I have said before will going to say again that if Shezy, Akmal or Farhat are going to be selected then it is better to play Ali.

We all know what his best his ugly hoicks to the midwicket or coming down the track and getting beaten by short pitch bowling. He is not an ODI material and should be thrown out of the ODI team.

 

[Bhaijaan]

rohit played a similar innings to Azhar. difference is he had Dhawan Yuvi and Kohli striking at over 100 S/R

If Rohit had RR pressure on him, he would have gone berserk right away. He was clearly backing himself for a big fireworks towards the end.

 

[coy0607]

If that was shehzad and hafeez trying their best then how do i get my 8 year old neice to play

you should write a cheque to Inzamam and his team of crooks- and im totally serious here, that may actually get your niece in the team

 

[hailian]

Stop blaming Azhar Ali...he was trying.
Rest are rubbish.
I must have come on these threads so many times to say this...only sarfaraz babar and to an extent malik shud be in top 6.
Rest...no.

Throughly agree. very sad to see our phateecher nation is blaming the guy who was at least trying and keeping one end going. A team is combination of power hitters and solid players. Azhar did his part and rest of the rubbish failed. He gave away his wicket when Hafeez was struggling to get the singles. If Azhar want he could bat 50 overs in every game but he mostly give away his wicket to increase the run rate.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

He played a selfish innings. His fifty has zero value when the team has lost the match with over 100 margin.

Right,he should have failed just like the others,so he could've allowed us to lose by 200 runs.

 

[muqarrab]

I'd take an honest trier like Azhar any day over shezaad and torture hafeez

 

[Timewaster]

LOL he is your best batsmen, wow some Pakistan fans are mental..... 50 (65) is good, Williamson and Taylor score about the same rate and are the backbone of the NZ team like Ali is for pakistan. The difference is though the NZ have big hitters to compliment Kane going at 50(65) but Pakistan dont and expect Ali to do both roles???
..... smarten up because he is good just needs some support around him