Has Azhar Ali been treated fairly or harshly by the PCB?

[MenInG]

Yes, he made some mistakes which cost Pakistan the match in Manchester but he got some tough series to captain the country in and he did score a 100 vs England.

So did PCB treat him harshly or was the decision to remove him as Test captain a fair one?

 

[badsha001]

He needs to gracefully retire now. He wanted to stick with Shafiq is a good enough reason to boot him out of the team.

 

[Rana]

They should have sacked him straight after the England tour instead of dragging it out this late. Seems like a panic decision

 

[Rayyman]

Azhar Ali is washed. Pakistan need to move on.

 

[Zaz]

He was always a stop gap captain The england loss, the meeting with imran and unshamedly backing of shafiq all wouldve contributed to him going sooner than planned

Id have given him another 12 months Its a lot to burden babar with at this stage

 

[unemployedgm]

I think the PCB doesn't know the qualities and attributes of a captain(leader).

The decision to appoint or remove a captain is based on the most immediate performance. If Mohammad Rizwan performed really well in the ODIs and T20s it is possible he would have become captain of the Test Team.

Babar may be Pakistan's best batsman but he's not a good captain.

 

[Kroll]

He's not been treated harshly as he was lucky to get captaincy in the first place. Azhar has been great servant to PCT over the years, but the Misbah-Azhar nexus has also been quite damaging.

Now is the time for healing, lower the temperature, to unite and get behind the new captain.

 

[Xoib]

If this removal leads to Asad Shafiq losing his test spot then I am all for it otherwise I don't think babar is an upgrade tactics wise and we might lose some potency with the bat

 

[Last Monetarist]

He's been treated with immense favour by the PCB after the retirements of Younis and Misbah, he should have lost his place in the side let alone being appointed captain. This sacking only rectifies the original error by Misbah.

 

[Markhor]

Thank god the Azhar era is over. The most gutless captaincy I've ever seen.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations <a href="https://twitter.com/babarazam258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@babarazam258</a> for being appointed as test captain all the best brother&#55357;&#56397; I assure my full support to you.. May Allah help you achieve many glorious victories for Pakistan Ameen....</p>— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AzharAli_/status/1326186629669810176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Double Trouble]

I think the PCB were harsh on Azhar

It was a tough tour in the bio secure environment.

Made a test match hundred against a v good bowling attack.

Didn’t complain about the bio secure environment like root & holder.

Kept a good profile whilst captaining his country unlike some previous captains.

 

[Kroll]

I think the PCB were harsh on Azhar

It was a tough tour in the bio secure environment.

Made a test match hundred against a v good bowling attack.

Didn’t complain about the bio secure environment like root & holder.

Kept a good profile whilst captaining his country unlike some previous captains.

Ultimately, its results for the team that matter, not good behaviour and personal milestones.

 

[Syed1]

Should not even have accepted the role when he had flopped like no tomorrow previously as well.


He thought ab Misbah bhai agaye hain sub acha chalta rahayga meri aur Asad ki dehaari lagi rahay gi.

 

[Double Trouble]

So if Babar fails to win or draw the series as results matter move onto Shan or Shadab.

 

[MMHS]

A bit harsh as he didn't appoint himself as Captain, but the guy didn't learn his lessons either. He kept that Captain's arm band with a death bite and led to being sacked - from his ODI experience, he should have done better this time. Now, it'll be tougher for him to keep on to his Test spot as well. If he were smart enough, he would have resigned immediately after returning from English Tour - he played the best Test innings by a PAK batsman in some years in last Test, which should have kept him as a player for few more series on his own term, but now Babar might not like a former sacked Captain, a decade senior by age and not so performing batsman around. Azhar Ali deserved to play 100 Tests for PAK, which I don't see happening now - still 19 more to go, that's almost 3 years at PCB's rate.

 

[Hasan123]

He wasn't the right man for the job. He should have never been appointed. But if you aren't upto the job and you are sacked you can't really call that harsh.

 

[Kroll]

By removing Azhar, PCB also showing two fingers to Misbah.

 

[hitthestump]

Certainly not unfair. After the retirements of MisYou it was him and Shafiq who were supposed to step up to the plate, and they failed miserably in that regard.

The only reason a 35 year old is even in the test team is due to a lack of resource elsewhere. His age, captaincy and ability no longer warrants an automatic selection and i daresay there is no other test side in the world who would still pick him.

So no, not unfair. He's had a decent test career with some flashes of brilliance but his time is up now.

 

[hitthestump]

He wasn't the right man for the job. He should have never been appointed. But if you aren't upto the job and you are sacked you can't really call that harsh.

My understanding is that he was put into the role while Babar was groomed with the LOI captaincy. After Safaraz there wasn't anyone else suitable for job, so they used Azhar as a stop-gap with Babar in mind for the long term.

 

[Hasan123]

My understanding is that he was put into the role while Babar was groomed with the LOI captaincy. After Safaraz there wasn't anyone else suitable for job, so they used Azhar as a stop-gap with Babar in mind for the long term.

Well they should have gone with Shafiq if that was the plan. I think had the same thinking at the time. Azhar is not a captain and his ODI regin showed that.

 

[Mirpur express]

He should’ve been sacked when he called Asad technique Shafiq a match winner , he is a smart chap let’s see if he does what many before him have failed to do.. retire

 

[Rayyman]

My understanding is that he was put into the role while Babar was groomed with the LOI captaincy. After Safaraz there wasn't anyone else suitable for job, so they used Azhar as a stop-gap with Babar in mind for the long term.

Yea Babar cemented his spot in the Test team with the 100 vs AUS in UAE and 90 in SA, but it would have been unfair to make him the captain on the Australia and England tours. So they scapegoated Azhar there while Babar scored big in the next 2/3 series.

 

[Cric1234]

Him and Shafiq have been treated like Richards and Tendulkar playing all 3 formats as top order batsmen with little in way of match winning performances.
Grinding out an average over 40 at a strike rate of 40 is hardly the hallmark of a great player and his captaincy was lacking aswell Babar is set up for failure as most of the batsmen need dropping from the test team.

 

[shamaan]

So if Babar fails to win or draw the series as results matter move onto Shan or Shadab.

Azhar is nearly finished babar has just started he will be given a long run

 

[shamaan]

I think if I had to choose one to drop out of shafiq azhar I'd definitely drop shafiq

 

[shamaan]

Azhar Ali is washed. Pakistan need to move on.

Shafiq should be dropped first

 

[choudhary6964]

It would be fair if they drop him for new Zealand and his Jigar Ka tukda Asad most useless player ever shafiq.Azhar's time is up.He should call it a day now

 

[Major]

Azhar Ali's second stint as captain comes to an end.

Babar made test captain, and Azhar's captaincy has come to an end.

Discuss how would you rate his second stint. Fair enough to be removed as captain?

 

[szrana007]

He should have gotten till the South Africa series. Too early for Babar to be made captain. I fear Babar will be humiliated in New Zealand, and then lose the home series against South Africa. It will be worst possible start to a capataincy.

 

[Markhor]

His second stint as captain saw some of the most clueless captaincy I've seen in my life. I was shaking with anger after the Manchester Test.

No opposition research, no ability to win close games nor a desire to kill the game when the opposition were under pressure.

 

[Syed1]

His second stint as captain saw some of the most clueless captaincy I've seen in my life. I was shaking with anger after the Manchester Test.

No opposition research, no ability to win close games nor a desire to kill the game when the opposition were under pressure.

Should have shaken with anger when naive ignorant Wasim Khan appointed Misbah ul flop.

 

[JibranAnsari]

can you really blame pcb after schoolboy level captaincy in the first test match.

 

[Syed1]

can you really blame pcb after schoolboy level captaincy in the first test match.

Yes PCB is entirely to blame..they replaced Mickey, who despite all his short comings was a professional coach, with a loser like Misbah. So obviously you will get stupid decisions like acha bacha Azhar appointed as captain. It is PCB and more specifically Wasim Khan who took us down this road. Had Mickey been retained or another professional coach appointed a guy like Azhar won't even be in the team let alone captain it.

 

[shamaan]

Yes PCB is entirely to blame..they replaced Mickey, who despite all his short comings was a professional coach, with a loser like Misbah. So obviously you will get stupid decisions like acha bacha Azhar appointed as captain. It is PCB and more specifically Wasim Khan who took us down this road. Had Mickey been retained or another professional coach appointed a guy like Azhar won't even be in the team let alone captain it.

Everyone makes mistakes they are trying to rectify it

 

[Nasty Naz]

Azhar Ali seems like a really nice guy and I can see him being a coach someday because he has really gotten the best out of his abilities. He lacks that natural talent but was fantastic for quite a while due to his excellent defense.

But he seems pretty finished for International cricket. Father time is undefeated and well, he is just too old at this point. It's been the case for 3 years now so it's not a minor slump either. Azhar being sacked for captaincy isn't a surprise nor is it harshly and to be honest, if Babar was a bit older and Test experienced at that time, it would have been him and not Azhar getting it. Pakistan basically had no other real option to chose from at the time.

It's only a matter of time before Azhar is dropped from the squad as well.

 

[hitthestump]

He should have gotten till the South Africa series. Too early for Babar to be made captain. I fear Babar will be humiliated in New Zealand, and then lose the home series against South Africa. It will be worst possible start to a capataincy.

Yep. They've sure thrown him in at the deep end here.

Even worse that he's our best batsman. If he doesn't score in these series we'll be getting a new captain pretty quickly i think.

 

[CleverSir]

I think Azhar Ali did his talent justice in his career. He was a solid bat and he made it count. Age has caught up with him and I hope he has the self awareness to gracefully retire in the next year or so. If he walks out on his own accord, he will be remembered as a good batsman, and a great teammate.

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Wasim on Azhar Ali's removal from captaincy:


PakPassion.net: Will Azhar Ali bounce back from losing his position as Test captain?

Mohammad Wasim: There is no doubt that Azhar is a strong character. He has already experienced a similar situation when he was removed from ODI captaincy but after that he performed well in Test cricket. I have known Azhar for a long time, and given his character and the fact that he is a strong individual, I know he will be disappointed in the way things have gone but he will bounce back from this setback. He has done that in Test cricket in the past where whenever he struggled for runs, he came back strongly with big hundreds and contributed positively to the team. I am sure this disappointment will be on his mind, and it may take some time for him to recover, but I can it won’t affect his batting or on the field decisions.