Should Azhar Ali be our permanent opener in ODIs?

[j_kazmi]

As we saw yesterday he batted with more intent than most of our other batsmen but we know that he isn't able to bat like openers of other countries.

But i think if he can improve on his stroke making a little bit than he can be a goodish batsmen upfront for us.

One thing him about him is that he has hardworker and he's more likely to improve at his game than many of our other so called superstars.

Thoughts?

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Khuda ka khauf karo,we should discard him in ODI's as soon as the CT ends.Him along with Shehzad,Hafeez and Wahab.

 

[smarmazhar]

He should be renamed Azhar Dot Ball Ali Jokes apart, he needs to learn to rotate the strike faster and not get bogged down.Maybe learning few more shots & improvising will help

 

[Syed1]

He shouldn't even be our temporary opener let alone permanent.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

We deserve to be number 10 if he opens for us in ODIs. I guess some fans either don't want us to improve or don't understand the modern game

 

[nextover666666]

no he should stick to test only, as we saw during the India match, when he had to play a big shot he wasnt able to and got out.

 

[KamranDestiny]

I wont say permanent opener but him and Fakhar should be opening for the rest of the matches in the CT. Shehzad just simply doesn't have it in him and Hafeez is useless if he doesn't bowl, im sure Harris wont bat worse than him at no. 4.

 

[dhump]

Yes if Pakistan want to stay on rank 8-10 Azhar should be ODI opener because than team deserve to stay there.

I dont even think it is good for Azhar to play ODI he is a limited player who work really hard which works for him in test cricket.

 

[TalhaSyed]

He had a pretty decent/good knock yesterday - however, let's see how he gets on and progresses in upcoming games before making any sort of call.

His strike rotation does need work - however, there was evidence there yesterday to suggest that he has been working on it, with a few quick singles (at times a bit too close for comfort). In yesterdays inning we also saw an attacking side to him which is essential for todays limited over batsmen - specially opening batsmen.

Given what we have available at our disposal at the moment - namely Shehzad, Kami, Hafeez, untested domestic players etc. - and given that Sharjeel is a bit busy with court cases right now, after yesterdays inning I think there is a definite argument that Azhar should be given a couple of more games as opener to see if he can adapt before making any sort of decision.

Having said that - he does look very much like a Test batsmen and when he is slogging or rotating the strike quickly on ODIs - he does look way out of his natural game territory.

Ofcourse - we also know that he wold have been given a few more games even if he had flopped yesterday - probably like we will see with Shezad and Hafeez

 

[Gasman]

I think he should open for the rest of this tournament with Fakhar Zaman, as we don't have other options in the squad (Shehzad and Hafeez demonstrated that clearly yesterday)
Then we should look for other options in Limited overs cricket, such as sahibzada farhan or much tariq Ahmed
But you could see that at least Azhar was trying to be more adventurous with his batting yesterday

 

[MRSN]

So we should presist with a guy who lets the RR go past 9 runs per over starting from 7 despite the luxury of power play and flat road. who could not even rotate the strike deapite being at crease for 15 overs we should presist with this guy? As I said in another thread Pakistani fans need to embrace modern one day cricket. You cannot pack your team with accumulators in this day.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

He tried is absolute hardest and came out with a 50 at strike rate of 75. Further he slowed as soon as he got a 50.

He gets in from this squad because he isn't a selfish ***** like others, going forward he has no place and I question the sanity of those who say otherwise

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

So we should presist with a guy who lets the RR go past 9 runs per over starting from 7 despite the luxury of power play and flat road. who could not even rotate the strike deapite being at crease for 15 overs we should presist with this guy? As I said in another thread Pakistani fans need to embrace modern one day cricket. You cannot pack your team with accumulators in this day.

I still cannot understand how Mickey let this happen. He should have grilled Inzamam.

A top order of:

Azhar Ali
Ahmed Shehzad
Babar Azam
Mohammad Hafeez

is a sin!

 

[HinderTheJinder]

He knows that he can't hit boundaries no point in having such a player on top

 

[Pete Rose]

He should not be. But his is yet another case of how Paksitanis mess up their players.
He was dropped for the odi leg of Windies tour and he was brought back for CT with nothing in between to suggest he had fixed the reasons for which he was dropped.
Agaisn, ppl will blame sarfaraz and mickey etc,
but what a shocking squad Inzi has chosen.

 

[MRSN]

I still cannot understand how Mickey let this happen. He should have grilled Inzamam.

A top order of:

Azhar Ali
Ahmed Shehzad
Babar Azam
Mohammad Hafeez

is a sin!

I don't think Inzi has any clue about the ever changing modern day cricket. If he had any ounce of idea he would not be selecting a batting order of Shehzad,Azhar,Hafeez in top four. This is a recipe of disaster. Not only these three struggle to rotate the strike they also choke when pressure is on which we saw last night. They are only good against minnows. We need big game players we are a big team. These selfish batsmen needs to be shown the door. These players just play for their averages.

The tuk tuk mentality is 100% selfish. Score your 40 odd runs and secure your place for next series much like Misbah. Look at Malik when he came at the crease. We are fed up with this mentality. We have seen this enough. This just helps build their personal careers and leave team in dirt.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Hell no!

I would rather open with Amir and Hassan than these two clowns, Azhar and Shehzad.

 

[j_kazmi]

Well I got my answer loud and clear then

But the reason I say this is that he seems to be only one that has the ability to improve. The rest seem to make the same mistakes every time. Even though his batting wasn't fast enough at least he showed grit and the intent to score.

 

[j_kazmi]

He had a pretty decent/good knock yesterday - however, let's see how he gets on and progresses in upcoming games before making any sort of call.

His strike rotation does need work - however, there was evidence there yesterday to suggest that he has been working on it, with a few quick singles (at times a bit too close for comfort). In yesterdays inning we also saw an attacking side to him which is essential for todays limited over batsmen - specially opening batsmen.

Given what we have available at our disposal at the moment - namely Shehzad, Kami, Hafeez, untested domestic players etc. - and given that Sharjeel is a bit busy with court cases right now, after yesterdays inning I think there is a definite argument that Azhar should be given a couple of more games as opener to see if he can adapt before making any sort of decision.

Having said that - he does look very much like a Test batsmen and when he is slogging or rotating the strike quickly on ODIs - he does look way out of his natural game territory.

Ofcourse - we also know that he wold have been given a few more games even if he had flopped yesterday - probably like we will see with Shezad and Hafeez

This is the main reasons I'm saying this. Not because I think azhar ali is the greatest one day batsmen in the world.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Well I got my answer loud and clear then

But the reason I say this is that he seems to be only one that has the ability to improve. The rest seem to make the same mistakes every time. Even though his batting wasn't fast enough at least he showed grit and the intent to score.

Azhar is officially 32 and unofficially at least 35 who bats at 70s SR in ODIs and 30s in Tests. He has no business playing ODIs.

 

[Billy1999]

Yes he should be

 

[j_kazmi]

Azhar is officially 32 and unofficially at least 35 who bats at 70s SR in ODIs and 30s in Tests. He has no business playing ODIs.

If he carries on batting at a SR of 70 then I agree he shouldn't be in the team but if he can increase it 80 then he may be worth our time if we partner him with an aggressive opener.

 

[SARJ_BD]

We should slowly induct following openers and kickout Shehzad and Azhar
Shabzada Farhan,
Sami Aslam,
Fakhar Zamar,
Umar Amin

 

[The_Odd_One]

If he carries on batting at a SR of 70 then I agree he shouldn't be in the team but if he can increase it 80 then he may be worth our time if we partner him with an aggressive opener.

Already tried that. He batted with Sharjeel and he averaged in 20s with SR in 70s.

Azhar is a bad investment due to his age.

 

[shah_1]

Did you even watch him after 10 overs? If you did then it sums up his game. He scored 36 runs in 38 balls in first 10 overs then 14 runs in 27 balls. He simply can't find gaps to boundaries when the field is spread and can't take singles.

 

[proud_pakistani]

I would say if Sharjeel was our opener he could have been his partner. Ideally our opening pair should be Sharjeel and Shahzaib Hasan.

 

[Hasan123]

No he shouldn't. Pakistan will never go anywhere with Azhar type players in LO.

 

[hailian]

If he carries on batting at a SR of 70 then I agree he shouldn't be in the team but if he can increase it 80 then he may be worth our time if we partner him with an aggressive opener.

Hi strike rate is 80 in last 2 years and is better than many in current team and also than many other top side players. But our phateecher nation will keep on mourning on him the way we treated Misbah and Fawad.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Did you even watch him after 10 overs? If you did then it sums up his game. He scored 36 runs in 38 balls in first 10 overs then 14 runs in 27 balls. He simply can't find gaps to boundaries when the field is spread and can't take singles.

This is a major issue. Moreover the pressure was also applied on him by babar and hafeez playing series of dots even maiden overs are played. He did the hard work wanted to get a 50 after batting for 50 balls he was still struggling to take singles even when the field is spread out. He took 8 balls to move from 49 to 50 even against a spinner.

 

[letme alone]

no, he has to abilty to save wicket if he play like test match, but rotatinkg need special art, and make a run according to a situation.

 

[SERVO7711]

Change the whole team with new players . Bring under 25 years players and keep old wood away so that they don't imbibe rusting from them..what worse can they play at least they will show hunger to improve