He was brought into the team after the World Cup because the PCB wanted an anchor after the retirement of Misbah. In addition, they were looking for someone to lead the ODI and Test side for the next 6-7 years. When you consider the candidates, it was obvious that he didn't have much competition. PCB could not give captaincy to a young player with little experience, and the likes of Hafeez and Malik were not in contention because the former was sacked as T20I captain in 2014 and Malik was not in the plans of the selectors at that point. Fawad had decent experience, but he never managed to convince the PCB that he was a long-term option.
In addition, the likes of Umar and Shehzad had enough experience, considering the fact that they were given enough opportunities from 2009, but they didn't do themselves any favors with their attitude and performance. Shehzad tossed his T20I captaincy into the fire after he reminded Dilshan of the fire in Hell. Until that point, he was a serious candidate. Haris wasn't an option either because he cemented his place only one series before the World Cup and he was yet to break into the Test team. That left PCB with three options only: Azhar, Shafiq and Sarfraz. Azhar beat Shafiq because he was a better player, and he edged Sarfraz because his character and personality were more in-line with Misbah's, and PCB wanted continuity - they wanted him to pick from where Misbah left.
Two years later, two things became clear: 1) a fish cannot learn to climb a tree no matter how hard it works 2) it is an unlucky fish that lost out due to circumstances beyond its control. More than due to the inability to climb the tree, it suffered because it was in the wrong place at the wrong time unlike Misbah.
Azhar tried hard to adapt to the ODI game, but he simply did not have the range shots and ability to rate the strike to maintain a SR of 90. At his age, it was not possible for him to learn these tricks of the trade. His strength lies in his unflappable temperament and ability to block all day long, while putting away deliveries in his zone. Those qualities have made him a good Test number 3 and a world class Test opener. However, as I said earlier, the biggest cause of his demise was due to factors that were not in his control. I have tremendous respect for Misbah and what he has done for Pakistan cricket, but the fact is that was an awful ODI captain and a mediocre ODI batsman. Apart from beating SL, he lost every single ODI series at home. SA, England, Australia and New Zealand all came to the desert and demolished us. In addition, the 2013 Champions Trophy was a complete disaster. No other serious cricket board will tolerate such humiliation, and a couple of series wins in India and SA along with the Asia Cup is not enough compensation. Misbah was not sacked because unlike Azhar, he already had the leverage of Test captaincy, he was a deaf king among blind batsmen, and he managed to make himself look like a good bowling captain due to his three javelin-throwers in Ajmal, Hafeez and Junaid.
When Azhar inherited Misbah, Ajmal and Hafeez were already caught for their illegal actions while Junaid got away with it, but regressed alarmingly due to his injuries. In addition, he also lost Afridi's bowling. In short, he pretty much lost the bowling attack that carried Misbah's team for years and years. In addition, his runs had little worth due to the emergence of Babar and Sharjeel and the resurgence of Malik. The former made Azhar's strike rate look worse, and the latter showed him (and Misbah) that it is possible to anchor the innings and accumulate runs without bringing the innings to a complete halt. Furthermore, Sarfraz got plenty of games against WI and got himself a winning streak, hence putting additional pressure on Azhar. Put Azhar as batsman and captain in the 2011-2014 team and he will immediately look better. On the contrary, put Misbah in Azhar's team and it won't take more than two series for him to get exposed.
Nonetheless, will all said and done, if Inzi The Revolutionary brings Azhar back for the Champions Trophy, it will rank as one of the worst decisions ever by a CS and should be enough to sack him. It will be massive backwards step.
He seems to be clean and honest based on what we have seen. If anything - he was not appointed captain at the time since he was new to ODI cricket himself. He returned to the ODI team during the Australia ODI series in 2014 and did not play in the 2015 WC until Nasir and YK's failures became too hard to ignore. However, he prove himself in the last 2 years with his captaincy whenever he got the chance and now is rightfully appointed captain.
