Azhar Ali's ultra-defensive mode of batting

[Syed1]

Azhar Ali, our opening batsman and captain-in-waiting is given the job of blunting the attack and taking the shine of the new ball, but it seems that Azhar has taken the 'blunting' word far too seriously.

These are Azhar's last few innings:

91 (234), SR: 38.9 against WI at Sharjah
15 (39), SR: 38.5 against NZ at Christchurch
31 (173), SR: 17.9 against NZ at Christchurch
1 (18), SR: 5.6 against NZ at Hamilton
58 (161), SR: 36.0 against NZ at Hamilton
44* (153), SR: 28.8 against CA XI at Cairns


Now tell me are we going to ever impose ourselves on a match if one of our batsman is playing an innings like the ones above?

Coincidentally we have lost all of those matches baring the last one (which is ongoing).


In an era where batsman like Warner are scoring centuries in a session while opening and we have an opening batsman who would be deemed to be 'to slow' even in the 1980s.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

its quite shocking but nothing new. He honestly seems to think nothing is to slow for test matches in the modern age.


I had hoped for improvment under Mickey but that seems unlikely.


People wont like this but whenever azhar has been under pressure he has resorted to selfish cricket. Some of these scores can be attributed to panic during a crash but i remember him in the past doing similar stuff during lean patches and reviewing edges to the slip

 

[Mamoon]

Sami is a strokeless wonder as well. It is a good opening combination as far as occupying the crease is concerned, but it also - without question - the most boring combination I have seen in a long, long time.

Now before someone comes out of his cave and tells me that I should stick to T20 cricket, it is clearly not about that. No one hopes to see them go all out attack, but a SR of 30 and 40 is not acceptable either.

They are really not helping the team at all by pulling off the Mannequin Challenge every time they go onto bat.

Warner is another extreme who is setting the wrong precedence as a Test opener, and that is why he fails all the time unless the pitch is flat.

However, it is important to bat around a SR of 50.

On a side note, some of the seasoned posters here claimed that Azhar is better than/or equal to Kohli in Test cricket.

 

[fasihulhaq94]

It would be shocking if he had batted at a higher strike rate earlier in his career. This is what Azhar is known for. There have been complete articles written on his old school style of batting.

The problem is it should only be Azhar playing this style because he is comfortable with it. Instead the other five batsmen barring Sarf will play the same way just because we are in foreign conditions, eventually will get frustrated and get out chasing a wide one.

Think the idea should be to bat around Azhar even if its Tests.

 

[Abdullah]

im ok with it. u need one like him in the team. a gem

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan will win when they play their style of cricket - we dont need to play like others. Only issue is when we bat in our style and then the bowlers dont help.

The attritional style of play needs good support from bowlers and fielders

 

[Syed1]

im ok with it. u need one like him in the team. a gem

The problem is he isn't the only one.

Sami is a carbon copy of him. Younis Khan struggles to bat in away conditions (let alone at a high SR). Shafiq is another a who targets a SR of 30-40 in tests. The only two batsmen who play at a SR of atleast 50 are Misbah and Sarfaraz.

You won't be very successful with such defensiveness.

 

[ali ray]

just wait and watch hundred at Gabba

 

[Syed1]

just wait and watch hundred at Gabba

I hope we get full five days of play, otherwise there won't be enough time in the test for Azhar to get his century.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

He is our best test batsman and is going to be the key along with Babar

 

[Dr_Bassim]

The team is 124/5 and we are worried why Azhar is too slow.

The team was bowled out for 230 within 45 minutes from 181-3 in NZ where Azhar made 60-70 odd runs and we are wondering why Azhar is too slow.

Seems to me instead of focusing on what is actually the problem, we are focusing on why Azhar is too slow.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

The team is 124/5 and we are worried why Azhar is too slow.

The team was bowled out for 230 within 45 minutes from 181-3 in NZ where Azhar made 60-70 odd runs and we are wondering why Azhar is too slow.

Seems to me instead of focusing on what is actually the problem, we are focusing on why Azhar is too slow.

Well said. However I agree that our batsmen need to accelerate when set because we need to score at a certain rate at certain times especially in the day night test

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Sami and Azhar wouldn't be a problem if we had strokemakers at 4-6, instead we have two 40 year olds and a mental midget.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

The team is 124/5 and we are worried why Azhar is too slow.

The team was bowled out for 230 within 45 minutes from 181-3 in NZ where Azhar made 60-70 odd runs and we are wondering why Azhar is too slow.

Seems to me instead of focusing on what is actually the problem, we are focusing on why Azhar is too slow.

I agree.Our batting is really vulnerable in these conditions.The opening stand in the last innings in NZ was the only bright spot of the tour.

 

[Syed1]

The team is 124/5 and we are worried why Azhar is too slow.

The team was bowled out for 230 within 45 minutes from 181-3 in NZ where Azhar made 60-70 odd runs and we are wondering why Azhar is too slow.

Seems to me instead of focusing on what is actually the problem, we are focusing on why Azhar is too slow.

As they say you have to make hay while the sun is shining.


Azhar and Sami both have a little bit of leeway to get their eyes in and bat at a slow rate to blunt the attack and take the shine off. However, there is no justification for batting for 200 balls and still not getting any substantial amount of runs.

If you alone have played 200 balls and you came as opener, that means the second new ball is just round the corner and there are hardly any runs on the board, obviously the team is going to suffer.

What is needed is not to go berserk once the ball is old, but atleast show some application, target a run rate of 3-4 in the period from overs 40-80.

 

[Justcrazy]

Azhar started as a spinner , and converted to a batsman , He does not have that kind of range , so he can not play other way.

The problem is when all your batsmen are playing in the same gear.

 

[The_Odd_One]

The way Azhar and Sami bat, you feel like you are watching night watchmen bat. I think it is their job to hold one end.

Blocking and scoring 30-40 runs at 30 SR is never going to help your team. Nobody is asking them to bat like Warner but at least maintain a 50+SR.

 

[Markhor]

Azhar started as a spinner , and converted to a batsman , He does not have that kind of range , so he can not play other way.

The problem is when all your batsmen are playing in the same gear.

Beat me to it. Azhar was a spinner turned batsmen so doesn't have the natural array of shots a natural batsman would have.

He's a perfectly competent Test bat and I'm sick of the 16 year merrygoround that is Pakistan's opening partnership so dropping Azhar or Aslam is crazy given they have put on decent partnerships together.

I don't want to go back to the days where we'd be 30-3 every match. HOWEVER they need to up the ante once they get set otherwise pressure builds on the other batsmen to accelerate.

Nobody's asking for sixes to be sent into the stands every few balls, just take quick singles and 2s to keep the scoreboard ticking instead of going into a shell.

 

[Major]

Scores runs dont see any problem in it.

Its test cricket for gods sake

someone pull out AHmed Shezads strike rates

 

[Zeshan547]

Azhar can't bat even above 40 strike rate to save his life, not even vs teenager noobs, and still he is best opener we have, just shows the quality of our batsman. Have to credit them for such level of stubborness. They don't even get fed up after playing at less than 30 strike rate for hours and hours, i think there is some kind of competition or bet between our batsman that "who can play with least strike rate for longest length of time" or in other words "who can test the patience of fans the most and who can tease the hell out of them" as for the result who care about that, accept we poor fans,

 

[Major]

Azhar can't bat even above 40 strike rate to save his life, not even vs teenager noobs, and still he is best opener we have, just shows the quality of our batsman. Have to credit them for such level of stubborness. They don't even get fed up after playing at less than 30 strike rate for hours and hours, i think there is some kind of competition or bet between our batsman that "who can play with least strike rate for longest length of time" or in other words "who can test the patience of fans the most and who can tease the hell out of them" as for the result who care about that, accept we poor fans,

so wait, you are saying those opening batsmen like imran nazir, kamran akmal, jamshed who ahd avgs of below 30s were good openers?

 

[90MPH]

Pakistan will win when they play their style of cricket - we dont need to play like others. Only issue is when we bat in our style and then the bowlers dont help.

The attritional style of play needs good support from bowlers and fielders

Disagree MIG.

Pakistans old style careful approach has worked perfectly well in the UAE but in tougher tours like Australia you can't be too defensive.

In the recently concluded NZ tour the Pak team got themselves into big holes when playing too safely.

Yes be careful as it is alien conditions but also have a gameplan to hit the bad balls otherwise allowing the opposition to keep bowling wherever they like will mean sooner rather than later you getting a ball with your name on it.

 

[Zeshan547]

so wait, you are saying those opening batsmen like imran nazir, kamran akmal, jamshed who ahd avgs of below 30s were good openers?

where i said or meant that, rather i said it's just the way things are, and these are actually the best available openers we have, but atleast those can show some freaking intent to score, they don't even seen to try to score at faster rate, that's the biggest issue. Because the least you can do is that you are really trying. Successful or not is another thing.

 

[Pete Rose]

Not ready to consider this an issue until the end of this tour

 

[Syed1]

Batsman like Azhar Ali is the reason why test cricket is losing supporters fast. No one wants to take time out from their daily life, and spend hard earned money to watch Azhar Ali blast his way to a 200 ball 30.

 

[sshakir411]

I agree. I feel it was Azhar who killed any chances of us winning the 2nd test in NZ with his extremely slow batting in the second innings. I also think this is impacting Sami, they talk quite a lot while batting and they both seem to be stuck in their shells. I like Azhar, but he needs to up his game, a lot. He's also hogging a spot in the LOI team and needs to just pick up the pace regardless of the format or situation. Will do him lots of good.

 

[Hasan123]

Lol him and Babar are only hopes in Australia with the bat.

 

[MRSN]

Lol him and Babar are only hopes in Australia with the bat.

the problem is the whole batting line up is one dimensional in a sense that they fail to accelerate and play at a decent rate. If we had some firework at bottom then it might not be a problem but in today's test cricket it's criminal to take 5 sessions to score 400 runs. You lose advantage despite scoring so many runs.

 

[MRSN]

Reverse swing will come into play if our batsmen survive the new ball so it's very important to play with positive intent. This is not UAE anymore where fast bowlers do not play any part in the game and result is achieved with spinners. Here fast bowlers rule. so even if you play out the new ball they will still be in the game whole time.

Personally, I see Pakistan's UAE strategy to be torn apart by Aussie team. Watch this space.

 

[Hasan123]

the problem is the whole batting line up is one dimensional in a sense that they fail to accelerate and play at a decent rate. If we had some firework at bottom then it might not be a problem but in today's test cricket it's criminal to take 5 sessions to score 400 runs. You lose advantage despite scoring so many runs.

Chief bhai mentioned above that Sami Aslam and Azhar aren't the problem it's the fact younis and Misbah could struggle in Australia and may not be able to score at a good rate so we could always be behind in Australia

 

[MRSN]

Not ready to consider this an issue until the end of this tour

what happened to the end of NZ tour?

 

[MRSN]

I agree. I feel it was Azhar who killed any chances of us winning the 2nd test in NZ with his extremely slow batting in the second innings. I also think this is impacting Sami, they talk quite a lot while batting and they both seem to be stuck in their shells. I like Azhar, but he needs to up his game, a lot. He's also hogging a spot in the LOI team and needs to just pick up the pace regardless of the format or situation. Will do him lots of good.

The youngsters learn from the seniors when we have made people like Misbah our greats then you cannot blame if you see youngsters like Sami copying them.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Scores runs dont see any problem in it.

Its test cricket for gods sake

someone pull out AHmed Shezads strike rates

Who wants Shahzad back?

 

[Syed1]

Azhar is the new Misbah it seems. His supporters are unable to see his faults and have to defend him no matter what.

Nobody is asking to drop Azhar, I'm just suggesting that this 20-30 SR of batting is very very counter productive for our side. Azhar himself has shown that he can bat at a higher SR when needed. Therefore, this seems like a team or personal decision to bat like it is a timeless test.

 

[sshakir411]

The youngsters learn from the seniors when we have made people like Misbah our greats then you cannot blame if you see youngsters like Sami copying them.

don't think Sami copies Misbah...I think batting with Azhar prevents him from playing freely.

 

[sarmad1983]

The problem is he isn't the only one.

Sami is a carbon copy of him. Younis Khan struggles to bat in away conditions (let alone at a high SR). Shafiq is another a who targets a SR of 30-40 in tests. The only two batsmen who play at a SR of atleast 50 are Misbah and Sarfaraz.

You won't be very successful with such defensiveness.

Misbah's stats are really off-putting. he got a 28 ball duck today on a club level attack. Against pace he is probably slower than Azhar. Babar azam is a breath of fresh air and should keep batting like he is.

 

[Jabo]

He's a rubbish batsman

The end

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Problems with fans like OP is they would rather prefer a batsman score a flashy and elegant 40 ball 45, the fact that he played 150 balls and stayed not out on a pitch where the rest 5 batters combined faced 145 balls and got dismissed should just show you how valuable he is.

But, but... he is the one that gets criticized. Please stick to premier leagues, there's plenty of that for fans like you isn't it?

 

[Syed1]

Problems with fans like OP is they would rather prefer a batsman score a flashy and elegant 40 ball 45, the fact that he played 150 balls and stayed not out on a pitch where the rest 5 batters combined faced 145 balls and got dismissed should just show you how valuable he is.

But, but... he is the one that gets criticized. Please stick to premier leagues, there's plenty of that for fans like you isn't it?

How about you improve your comprehension skills and read through the entire post first. I have listed each of Azhar's last five innings as well.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

How about you improve your comprehension skills and read through the entire post first. I have listed each of Azhar's last five innings as well.

I did and what did I see there? He survived long enough batting at the top in both of the NZ tests. Not all players need to be flashy and take on the opposition. Every team has a player that just digs in and tires the bowlers and also takes the shine off the ball in the process. The rest are supposed to take the charge from there.

The reason he's not being able to convert them to bigger scores is largely due to lack of support from the middle order. So no, he's not the one you should be looking at to pin the blame of your batting woes.

 

[Pantani]

The only really bad one is the 30 off 170.

Otherwise SR around the 35-40 mark is ok in tests. It's not ideal, but it's ok. Just don't get out. If you bat at 40 you should have a hundred by the end of the day, which is terrific, exactly what you want from an opener - bat all day unbeaten with a century. Middle order batsmen are supposed to be more expansive.

Obviously though if he's making 30 off 150 then that's not good enough, if you're going to soak up a lot of balls you had better get a big score.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

The only really bad one is the 30 off 170.

Otherwise SR around the 35-40 mark is ok in tests. It's not ideal, but it's ok. Just don't get out. If you bat at 40 you should have a hundred by the end of the day, which is terrific, exactly what you want from an opener - bat all day unbeaten with a century. Middle order batsmen are supposed to be more expansive.

Obviously though if he's making 30 off 150 then that's not good enough, if you're going to soak up a lot of balls you had better get a big score.

Those innings where he gets out after scoring 30-40ish after 150 odd balls. What total does Pak end up with? 171 and 230 in NZ.

Maybe if he was aided with solid support from middle order and then he then went onto fail to convert them into big ones, you could argue that his slowness is costing team crucial overs. However he's hardly the problem in Pak's batting order.

 

[Pete Rose]

what happened to the end of NZ tour?

I think he did quite well in NZ

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Babar has failed to pass 40 in his last 3 innings, but hey he's attractive.

Misbah hasn't scored much either, but hey that's his game.

Younis has scored 1 50 in his last 5 innings against little kids, but he's ATG.

Shafiq is having a torrid time, but hey he has techinque.

Azhar scores runs but who cares. He is too slow.

THANK you Pakpassion.

 

[Syed1]

Babar has failed to pass 40 in his last 3 innings, but hey he's attractive.

Misbah hasn't scored much either, but hey that's his game.

Younis has scored 1 50 in his last 5 innings against little kids, but he's ATG.

Shafiq is having a torrid time, but hey he has techinque.

Azhar scores runs but who cares. He is too slow.

THANK you Pakpassion.

Leaving everything aside, Babar has a 90* just one innings ago. Perhaps you need more of PakPassion to brush up on your cricketing acumen.

 

[Hasan123]

Babar has failed to pass 40 in his last 3 innings, but hey he's attractive.

Misbah hasn't scored much either, but hey that's his game.

Younis has scored 1 50 in his last 5 innings against little kids, but he's ATG.

Shafiq is having a torrid time, but hey he has techinque.

Azhar scores runs but who cares. He is too slow.

THANK you Pakpassion.

OP has an agenda against Azhar. The only player who is scoring runs is getting stick because of his strike rate in tests lol.

Azhar does need to improve his strike rotation. I think he should rotate the strike more but other than that he's doing a good job as an opener

 

[Hasan123]

Leaving everything aside, Babar has a 90* just one innings ago. Perhaps you need more of PakPassion to brush up on your cricketing acumen.

Azhar has 11 centuries and an average of 45 batting the way he has and your here telling him how to bat.

 

[Barragan]

I'm okay with both Azhar and Sami playing like this upfront because it helps blunt the new ball and make it easier for the batsmen to follow.

Pak's middle order is a problem.

Before, Younis used to be very busy at the crease and would constantly look for the singles and doubles, but he isn't the same anymore and most often trying to survive, rather than playing and scoring freely.

Younis' deterioration has caused a lot of problems and the run rate is one them.

Also, this is where shafiq was meant to come good and takeover, but he has failed miserably and to be honest, all the runs he scored previously are pretty much useless because both Younis and Misbah were very good back then and had a few years left in them, hence whether shafiq scored or not wouldn't have mattered much.

If shafiq can't do anything now, then all of his previous runs don't matter much because Pak had Younis and Misbah scoring freely, whilst now they are at their end and struggling.

 

[Mamoon]

Azhar is a very good Test batsman and probably our best, but that does not mean that we should not identify his weaknesses. Obviously if we had a quality middle-order comprising of proper batsmen, his weakness would not have been exposed, but apart from Babar and Sarfraz, all of our batsmen are grafters.

Most teams cannot afford more than one or at most two strokeless wonders; we have four of them. Sami Aslam's inclusion, who is himself a good opener, has only aggravated this problem.

 

[sshakir411]

OP has an agenda against Azhar. The only player who is scoring runs is getting stick because of his strike rate in tests lol.

Azhar does need to improve his strike rotation. I think he should rotate the strike more but other than that he's doing a good job as an opener

Don't see how that is any different to what the OP said?

 

[Syed1]

Azhar has 11 centuries and an average of 45 batting the way he has and your here telling him how to bat.

Going by that logic Younis Khan has 30 odd centuries and wipes the floor with Azhar but you lot froth at the mouth at any mention of Younis.

Either measure all in the same light or accept that you are partial towards Azhar Ali and cannot see him even constructively criticized (it is actually very obvious since you have him in your avatar).

 

[Hasan123]

Going by that logic Younis Khan has 30 odd centuries and wipes the floor with Azhar but you lot froth at the mouth at any mention of Younis.

Either measure all in the same light or accept that you are partial towards Azhar Ali and cannot see him even constructively criticized (it is actually very obvious since you have him in your avatar).

Lol because younis is dancing and hoping around. He is considered atg but has never looked comfortable vs lateral movement even when he was younger.

I have said Azhar should he replaced as odi captain. I have said his strike rotation is poor. I have criticised when he played poorly in the 1st 2 matches in England.


I have him as my avatar but I have given him criticism before so it's got nothing to with favouritism. He is scoring runs but he is still being critizced

 

[Hasan123]

Don't see how that is any different to what the OP said?

He us wanting Azhar to score more boundaries not just rotate the strike. Lol he used Warner as an example, Azhar isn't capeble of playing like Warner so why use him as an example?

 

[sshakir411]

He us wanting Azhar to score more boundaries not just rotate the strike. Lol he used Warner as an example, Azhar isn't capeble of playing like Warner so why use him as an example?

I think you should read the first post again. Warner was used an example to underline the importance/trend/benefit of scoring quickly and how other teams approach batting in tests. Anyone with half a brain, maybe less than that, knows well that Azhar can never play like Warner..don't know how you took that so literally. Azhar needs to up his pace and that is a fact (whether he chooses to do it by rotating the strike or playing a few shots)...I think everyone including the OP appreciate what Azhar has given to this team but the onus is on him to raise his game..

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Limited Skills batsman with great temperament.

 

[aloo paratha]

Can get annoying at times, but at least he can consistently make runs. It's not the biggest problem.

 

[Markhor]

He's a rubbish batsman

The end

Test average of 45 and 11 Test centuries is not rubbish.

He does need to improve his SR and record outside Asia, but rubbish he is not.

 

[New Yorker]

Problems with fans like OP is they would rather prefer a batsman score a flashy and elegant 40 ball 45, the fact that he played 150 balls and stayed not out on a pitch where the rest 5 batters combined faced 145 balls and got dismissed should just show you how valuable he is.

But, but... he is the one that gets criticized. Please stick to premier leagues, there's plenty of that for fans like you isn't it?

Azhar averages precisely 45 in Test cricket, so yes, I would on any given day always take a 40 ball 45 over a typical Azhar innings.

If he really was the immovable object that people make him out to be I would not mind so much, but sadly he is no Kallis at the crease. Falls cheaply quite often.

He is not the worst Pakistani batsman, but a player with very evident limitations. Most troubling, he does not seem to have improved very much over his career.

Sami Aslam is a much better prospect, and I bet on him outscoring Azhar over his career by some margin. If one blocker is to be kept as an opener it's the youngster who is actually young.

 

[New Yorker]

Test average of 45 and 11 Test centuries is not rubbish.

He does need to improve his SR and record outside Asia, but rubbish he is not.

No he's not rubbish at all. But he's not great either.
The Pakistani team is carrying an awful lot of these players these days.

 

[Ellipsism]

Here we are criticising a batsman whom is scoring yet no one has mentioned Misbah's 29 ball duck.

(Note, Azhar's strike rate is an issue but their are far more important isuues to address)

 

[yasir_shah_fan]

Sami is a strokeless wonder as well. It is a good opening combination as far as occupying the crease is concerned, but it also - without question - the most boring combination I have seen in a long, long time.

Now before someone comes out of his cave and tells me that I should stick to T20 cricket, it is clearly not about that. No one hopes to see them go all out attack, but a SR of 30 and 40 is not acceptable either.

They are really not helping the team at all by pulling off the Mannequin Challenge every time they go onto bat.

Warner is another extreme who is setting the wrong precedence as a Test opener, and that is why he fails all the time unless the pitch is flat.

However, it is important to bat around a SR of 50.

On a side note, some of the seasoned posters here claimed that Azhar is better than/or equal to Kohli in Test cricket.

He's proven himself in all conditions and one of the best openers around

 

[moghul]

Misbah has some positive and some not so positive qualities as batsman and as captain. His biggest negative is his ultra-defensive approach in batting and as captain. Azhar going to carry all the negative aspects of Misbah forward and that would be really bad for the team.

 

[ads101]

The fact he's now an opener has offset this disadvantage somewhat. Should have opened before tbh, he plays exactly the same as an opener does and it has allowed us to play a talented middle order bat in Babar. There are others who can score quicker, his job is to blunt the ball and hopefully make a big score. Which he does. I'm pretty happy with him in tests,he has been the best out of all the years (apart from Misbah and YK) and he has done that in the top order.

Asad's more of a worry who I feel is a little overrated, and seems to struggle when placed higher up the order. He can't continue at 6 forever which is mostly a rookie position (a batsman enters at this position and moves up with time) or someone who can score quick if needed. Asad can't do these things. I've have faith Asad will come good too up the order, but always felt it was a bit unfair when people were rating Asad over Azhar.

 

[PakLFC]

I hate the way he bats. Gets the team of to a slow and negative start all the time. Heaven help us if he's the future of our batting.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Babar has failed to pass 40 in his last 3 innings, but hey he's attractive.

Misbah hasn't scored much either, but hey that's his game.

Younis has scored 1 50 in his last 5 innings against little kids, but he's ATG.

Shafiq is having a torrid time, but hey he has techinque.

Azhar scores runs but who cares. He is too slow.

THANK you Pakpassion.

Babar has played like 4-5 tests?

Younis and Misbah are 40+ years old who might retire anytime.

Azhar and Shafiq are supposed to be in their peak years and if their performance is barely satisfactory then it's a sign of trouble for the future of Pakistan cricket.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Facing the new ball does not mean one does not score. The way Azhar bats, he should be more consistently hitting 50s and 100s. Scoring 30-40s is never going to help his team.

 

[FreePalestine]

I am so tired of this obsession with attacking cricket. It is a Western import and if you actually think about it, England's obsession with aggressive cricket is their biggest flaw and blind-sight. How many times did we get Joe Root in that England series because he was over-aggressive? Yes, he got some big innings as well, as quality players do, but lots of times in that series England got themselves out playing silly shots at critical stages of the games.

Also I assume that in many of those innings mentioned in the thread, he was probably the top scorer in the innings. So Azhar was not the problem in those games, other batsmen were.

On any wicket in the world apart from an absolute green seamer, the opener's job is to see off the new ball. Our middle order can then capitalize as the ball gets older and bowlers tire. This is the Pakistani way and it is our best strategy on most wickets, especially considering how weak our batsmen generally are against the moving ball.

 

[MMHS]

Azhar's problem is not that he plays slow - it's Test Match openers' job, therefore one occupying 20 overs at the start is doing great. Azhar's problem is he is too limited with his shot making capability, hence he is never out of his ultra slow game; which actually costs his team. In Test matches, players have to accelerate scoring once set, otherwise it's an opportunity lost. Even players like Viv Richards has batted a session out with SR of ~25; I believe Hayden once scored 107 in UAE in 8 hours - sometimes that's required, but for Azhar it's a single mood f operation. Before Hamilton; previous 3 Tests that PAK lost, Azhar had to take a bit blame for his batting - he went into complete shut-down after lunch at Birmingham which allowed ENG pacers & Moeen to attack one relentlessly; same at Sharjah & then at Church. 4 years back at Newlands, he & Misbah allowed SAF to come back in the match for their ultra slow batting.

I understand it Test match & one has enough time, but more than time factor, moving score board is more important, particularly when team is trailing, otherwise stagnant score board creates pressure, which eventually will force a desperate shot. His game for 1st hour is perfect - doesn't matter much if someone is 23 not out or 12 not out at first drinks; but after that scoring rate has to improve; which I don't think Azhar is capable of. His cricket can only work in UAE where survival is not at big issue, scoring fast is the biggest challenge, hence the difference with Azhar and others are not noticed much. In AUS, it's tough to survive first 15-20 overs; but once that's done, unless next 20-25 overs brings another 75-80 runs, the good work is lost.

 

[Buffet]

PPers expect too much from Ali here. He plays the way he can score some runs. If he tries to score quick, he will get out. Yah, you can find some rare cases where he scored fast, but those are exception. He doesn't have skills to score faster.

 

[Abdullah719]

32 runs off 50 balls today.

 

[Zeshan547]

It just show he was deliberately playing slow and selfish inning, it's not as if he can't play faster even if he try, most of the time he don't even show any intent, thats the real issue.

 

[Abdullah719]

It just show he was deliberately playing slow and selfish inning, it's not as if he can't play faster even if he try, most of the time he don't even show any intent, thats the real issue.

He's going for some wild slogs, which is why he's scored at a better rate today.

The main problem in his game is lack of strike rotation.

 

[msb314]

Azhar Ali, our opening batsman and captain-in-waiting is given the job of blunting the attack and taking the shine of the new ball, but it seems that Azhar has taken the 'blunting' word far too seriously.

These are Azhar's last few innings:

91 (234), SR: 38.9 against WI at Sharjah
15 (39), SR: 38.5 against NZ at Christchurch
31 (173), SR: 17.9 against NZ at Christchurch
1 (18), SR: 5.6 against NZ at Hamilton
58 (161), SR: 36.0 against NZ at Hamilton
44* (153), SR: 28.8 against CA XI at Cairns


Now tell me are we going to ever impose ourselves on a match if one of our batsman is playing an innings like the ones above?

Coincidentally we have lost all of those matches baring the last one (which is ongoing).


In an era where batsman like Warner are scoring centuries in a session while opening and we have an opening batsman who would be deemed to be 'to slow' even in the 1980s.

How does Sami Aslam's SR compare during the same matches?

Because it seems like he is really slow too.

 

[jeetu]

Azhar Ali's ODI record in 2016

Azhar Ali	Mat	Runs	Ave	SR	100	50	4s	6s
Overall	42	1568	40.2	75.6	3	9	144	11
2016	11	341	31	74.61	1	2	28	4

Runs	BF	SR		Opposition	Ground	Start Date
19	35	54.28		v New Zealand	Wellington	25-Jan-16
3	14	21.42		v New Zealand	Auckland	31-Jan-16
1	12	8.33		v Ireland	Dublin (Malahide)	18-Aug-16
82	110	74.54		v England	Southampton	24-Aug-16
0	3	0		v England	Lord's	27-Aug-16
13	14	92.85		v England	Nottingham	30-Aug-16
80	104	76.92		v England	Leeds	1-Sep-16
33	37	89.18		v England	Cardiff	4-Sep-16
0	1	0		v West Indies	Sharjah	30-Sep-16
9	18	50		v West Indies	Sharjah	2-Oct-16
101	109	92.66		v West Indies	Abu Dhabi	5-Oct-16

He's not always slow.

 

[QalandarFan]

FGS the guy is scoring runs! He is one of our main players along with Babar in Australia.

His SR is not a huge problem for tests. The only bad innings was that 30 odd of 180 odd deliveries. Otherwise an opener with a 45 Plus average, 40 plus SR, 11 hundreds, and 4000 plus runs is a very good opener.

One of our much better openers than others that we have had.

 

[Mamoon]

He's proven himself in all conditions and one of the best openers around

No he hasn't in Test cricket. He has a poor record outside Australia and South Africa. He has played 24 Tests in India, England, NZ, WI, SL and the UAE and averages 31 with just 1 hundred.

That is because his gung-ho approach does not work if the pitch is not flat with even bounce. If there is swing, seam or spin, he is bound to fail. He even fail at home vs SA last month because the pitches had a lot of grass.

He is very talented and can surely turn things around, but he needs to adapt his game and he hasn't done that yet.

Yes he is one of the best openers in Tests but that doesn't mean much because Cook is the only standout Test opener of the last 10 years.

 

[Pete Rose]

Good work out for azhar Ali

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Azhar averages precisely 45 in Test cricket, so yes, I would on any given day always take a 40 ball 45 over a typical Azhar innings.

If he really was the immovable object that people make him out to be I would not mind so much, but sadly he is no Kallis at the crease. Falls cheaply quite often.

He is not the worst Pakistani batsman, but a player with very evident limitations. Most troubling, he does not seem to have improved very much over his career.

Sami Aslam is a much better prospect, and I bet on him outscoring Azhar over his career by some margin. If one blocker is to be kept as an opener it's the youngster who is actually young.

And comparison with Kallis? Really? Kallis is levels above and also he had Smith, Amla and AB around him.

And strike rate is the least of your troubles when your team is struggling to hit the 300 mark. So like I said Azhar is not your problem, failing middle order is.

 

[New Yorker]

And comparison with Kallis? Really? Kallis is levels above and also he had Smith, Amla and AB around him.

And strike rate is the least of your troubles when your team is struggling to hit the 300 mark. So like I said Azhar is not your problem, failing middle order is.

So you agree on the 45 off 40 balls then?

I didn't say Azhar was the main problem in the team, nor that SR is the only problem with him. I certainly
don't believe any comparison to Kallis to be fair, which is why I find it surprising that some people talk about
Azhar as if it was.

 

[Abdullah]

what is the purpose of the op.
yes it is not an ideal strike rate, but we have been have been 150 -6 in the last 6 innings give or take, and that is despite the new ball being seen of somewhat