The way forward for Azhar Ali in the Champions Trophy

[MenInG]

I am one who really likes Azhar as a batsman in all formats and feel he does not do justice to himself.

In the previous game, he tried to play an uncharacteristic shot, probably getting carried away with the success of Fakhar at the other end and paid the price.

All he was expected to do was to pick a single and let the others do the scoring - just be there when Pak needed him later.

In the SL game, I feel he will be under strict instructions to preserve his wicket but he has to score those singles; no big shots needed just be there and keep scoreboard moving.

Can he do it?

 

[Major]

I'm also a big fan of Azhar Ali in all formats.

The criticism he gets around here is unjustified.
The other day he played a similar knock(less score though) to the Indian opener. Yet he was bashed here.

Though, i sometimes think Azhar ali lets the criticism get to him. Like if people bash him for batting slow, he starts batting fast. I think he should play his natural game and shouldn't do things out of his comfort zone.

I remember his 2012 innings against Australia. Thats the way he should bat. He shouldn't be concerned with SR.

 

[Hawkeye]

I'm also a big fan of Azhar Ali in all formats.

The criticism he gets around here is unjustified.
The other day he played a similar knock(less score though) to the Indian opener. Yet he was bashed here.

Though, i sometimes think Azhar ali lets the criticism get to him. Like if people bash him for batting slow, he starts batting fast. I think he should play his natural game and shouldn't do things out of his comfort zone.

I remember his 2012 innings against Australia. Thats the way he should bat. He shouldn't be concerned with SR.

Lol.

Azhar Ali is extremely poor for LOIs, but yes, better than Ahmed Shehzad. Though that doesn't mean much.

Anyone is better than Shehzad, even Imran Farhat.

 

[Sherlock]

I like him in Tests, but that's the only format he should be playing. This isn't the 90's anymore and players like him shouldn't be in squads let alone in the playing XI.

 

[Major]

I like him in Tests, but that's the only format he should be playing. This isn't the 90's anymore and players like him shouldn't be in squads let alone in the playing XI.

you do know Pakistan lost to India because of Rohit Sharma

 

[Syed1]

He is simply not suited for ODI cricket. Doesn't have the ability to find the boundary on a regular basis and struggles to rotate the strike. Azhar Ali is a big, big liability in the side and he needs to be dropped if we have to improve.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Even if he doesn't play the big shots,he should look to rotate strike.The bad balls will present themselves.He gets too far into his shell.I'm a huge fan of his in Tests and was a fan of his in ODI's in the start,but he has problems with strike rotation and he plays far too many deliveries without scoring,puts pressure on himself and his partner and then tries to attack,far too often losing his wicket.

 

[proud_pakistani]

He's a hard working batsman but just not efficient for ODIs. Whenever he tries to score quick or be proactive in his approach it's just not natural to him. You have to accept sometimes certain players are only for certain formats. Days are gone when you can have one batsman playing an anchor role and the other playing the shots. Both batsmen are expected to keep the scoreboard ticking in the modern game.

 

[Pete Rose]

one decent game one bad game.
his instinct is to preserve his wicket.
In the match against south africa he played very poorly until he ramped it to third man. shouldn't take anyone > 10 deliveries to find their scoring zones.

 

[Barragan]

The way forward for him is on the bench.

 

[Mamoon]

you do know Pakistan lost to India because of Rohit Sharma

And what's the relation between Rohit and Azhar? Yes Rohit has the tendency to start slowly, but he also possesses an extra gear that no batsman in the world has, perhaps apart from de Villiers. Azhar is a poor man's Rohit (of the first 15 overs), but the problem is that he has only one gear. Azhar needs to retire from ODIs after the Champions Trophy. It is in the best interests of both Pakistan and Azhar himself. He can fully focus on what he is great at, i.e. opening in Tests.

Misbah made a blunder when he recommended him as captain in 2015, which is funny because he himself did not deem him good enough to be part of the team from 2013 onwards, and now Inzamam is making the same mistake by forcing Azhar out of his comfort-zone and asking him to learn new tricks at the age of 35.

At best, Azhar can produce a 100 (120) innings and that too against a mediocre bowling attack. Against the quality sides, he is 30 (50) type player and that is simply not good enough. He has done well against the attacks of SL, Bangladesh, WI and Zimbabwe, but he has struggled badly against superior bowling attacks of England, Australia, NZ and India.

 

[Saj]

Azhar at this moment in time should not be in the team.

He's lacking confidence, lacking ideas, lacking a gameplan, his body language is awful.

It's really puzzling as to what he is doing in the squad and even more puzzling what he is doing in the team.

 

[Major]

And what's the relation between Rohit and Azhar? Yes Rohit has the tendency to start slowly, but he also possesses an extra gear that no batsman in the world has, perhaps apart from de Villiers. Azhar is a poor man's Rohit (of the first 15 overs), but the problem is that he has only one gear. Azhar needs to retire from ODIs after the Champions Trophy. It is in the best interests of both Pakistan and Azhar himself. He can fully focus on what he is great at, i.e. opening in Tests.

Misbah made a blunder when he recommended him as captain in 2015, which is funny because he himself did not deem him good enough to be part of the team from 2013 onwards, and now Inzamam is making the same mistake by forcing Azhar out of his comfort-zone and asking him to learn new tricks at the age of 35.

At best, Azhar can produce a 100 (120) innings and that too against a mediocre bowling attack. Against the quality sides, he is 30 (50) type player and that is simply not good enough. He has done well against the attacks of SL, Bangladesh, WI and Zimbabwe, but he has struggled badly against superior bowling attacks of England, Australia, NZ and India.

Becuase while you guys noticed Azhar's strike rate. No one noticed Rohit's strike rate in that particular match

 

[Hawkeye]

Becuase while you guys noticed Azhar's strike rate. No one noticed Rohit's strike rate in that particular match

Dude.. how can you even make this comparison.

Rohit is the kind of batsman who scores DOUBLE FREAKIN HUNDREDS in ODIs. He's that caliber and has the ability to play super fast.

Azhar doesn't. Not too complex logic.

 

[Mamoon]

Becuase while you guys noticed Azhar's strike rate. No one noticed Rohit's strike rate in that particular match

Yes because Rohit is a proven top player in ODIs, who is several levels above Azhar. If both Kohli and Shehzad get out for a duck in the same match, do you think they deserve equal criticism?

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

He does not have range of shots. He is wooden and 1 dimensional. When Sharjeel is back he should be dropped.

 

[MenInG]

I am not talking about ODI future for Azhar but just in the remaining games - there is no other replacement for him

 

[Pete Rose]

He does not have range of shots. He is wooden and 1 dimensional. When Sharjeel is back he should be dropped.

he should be dropped, sharjeel should not be back

 

[Major]

Yes because Rohit is a proven top player in ODIs, who is several levels above Azhar. If both Kohli and Shehzad get out for a duck in the same match, do you think they deserve equal criticism?

The other day, Azhar Ali was being critisizeed for his 70 strike rate while Rohit had the same exact strike rate aswel..

Its funny when no one critisizes Babar for his slow starts.

Just shows how posters are bias

Yes rohit is a proven top player with 155 matches.

 

[Syed1]

he should be dropped, sharjeel should not be back

Why not if he is innocent?

 

[Pete Rose]

Why not if he is innocent?

he is not innocent. not really bothered if the tribunal has proof or not. dont pick him.

 

[Jabo]

He's awful in this format

Cannot keep a healthy SR
mentally weak
he cried to the umpire over sledging
someone from the team should have slapped him one

 

[Syed1]

he is not innocent. not really bothered if the tribunal has proof or not. dont pick him.

Yeah you are judge, jury and executioner. You should take up a career as a judge you will declare people innocent or guilty without even having a look at the evidence at hand.

 

[Pete Rose]

Yeah you are judge, jury and executioner. You should take up a career as a judge you will declare people innocent or guilty without even having a look at the evidence at hand.

sharjeel is as innocent as aamir/asif/butt and akram/inzi/waqar/mushtaq
yes happy to be judge jury etc.

 

[omcswe]

as much as i love azhar and all that, he has no place in the limited over teams at the moment.

hafeez should open and one of haris or fahim should be in the team.

once this tournament is over, we need to get someone else in for the opening role. azhar should just continue to focus on test cricket - we need him there more than ever.

 

[MenInG]

as much as i love azhar and all that, he has no place in the limited over teams at the moment.

hafeez should open and one of haris or fahim should be in the team.

once this tournament is over, we need to get someone else in for the opening role. azhar should just continue to focus on test cricket - we need him there more than ever.

so you would like Hafeez to open against Sri Lanka and then bring in someone like Faheem in the vacant slot that Hafeez creates?

 

[Pete Rose]

as much as i love azhar and all that, he has no place in the limited over teams at the moment.

hafeez should open and one of haris or fahim should be in the team.

once this tournament is over, we need to get someone else in for the opening role. azhar should just continue to focus on test cricket - we need him there more than ever.

while i dont have advocate for Azhar in odi's by objective reason Azhar has outperformed Hafeez.

 

[omcswe]

so you would like Hafeez to open against Sri Lanka and then bring in someone like Faheem in the vacant slot that Hafeez creates?

1. hafeez
2. fakhar
3. babar
4. malik
5. sarfaraz

that would be my team batting order.

imad. shadab. fahim. amir. hasan.

should make up for at least 2 and a half batsman combined.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Yah before that he was playing excellent , 9(21). Some people

 

[Syed1]

Yah before that he was playing excellent , 9(21). Some people

Showing grit and temperament.

 

[Mamoon]

The other day, Azhar Ali was being critisizeed for his 70 strike rate while Rohit had the same exact strike rate aswel..

Its funny when no one critisizes Babar for his slow starts.

Just shows how posters are bias

Yes rohit is a proven top player with 155 matches.

Rohit started performing at a high level as soon as he started to open. Which position do you think Azhar should bat at that will allow him to perform at a high level? Or do you think he will start performing after he too plays 155 matches, which means he will be around 40 years old at that time.

It is not funny because Babar has received a lot of criticism in this tournament for batting in the same mode as Azhar, Hafeez and Shehzad.

 

[omcswe]

while i dont have advocate for Azhar in odi's by objective reason Azhar has outperformed Hafeez.

problem is hafeez is here to stay for the moment.

he is also going to be bowling a lot of overs especially that the next team we face has plenty of left handed batsmen.

 

[MRSN]

And what's the relation between Rohit and Azhar? Yes Rohit has the tendency to start slowly, but he also possesses an extra gear that no batsman in the world has, perhaps apart from de Villiers. Azhar is a poor man's Rohit (of the first 15 overs), but the problem is that he has only one gear. Azhar needs to retire from ODIs after the Champions Trophy. It is in the best interests of both Pakistan and Azhar himself. He can fully focus on what he is great at, i.e. opening in Tests.

Misbah made a blunder when he recommended him as captain in 2015, which is funny because he himself did not deem him good enough to be part of the team from 2013 onwards, and now Inzamam is making the same mistake by forcing Azhar out of his comfort-zone and asking him to learn new tricks at the age of 35.

At best, Azhar can produce a 100 (120) innings and that too against a mediocre bowling attack. Against the quality sides, he is 30 (50) type player and that is simply not good enough. He has done well against the attacks of SL, Bangladesh, WI and Zimbabwe, but he has struggled badly against superior bowling attacks of England, Australia, NZ and India.

Major has no idea what he is saying. Rohit can pull short balls for sixes while Azhar Ali will be caught in the inner cricle 99 times out of 100. SL must have seen Pak SA game and I am sure Azhar will be treated with lots of short pitch bowling.

 

[Lynx]

Azhar is a far better option than Shehzad/Hafeez as an opener. He really doesn't deserve all the criticism that he gets. The intent to score is there, which is admirable. He's an honest worker, albeit limited. Having said that, I think it's time we started trusted younger players more as we're going nowhere with players over 30. Fakhar has just had his debut and looks set to stay, and there are players like Sahibzada Farhan and Sami Aslam, who did spectacularly well in the Pakistan Cup just recently. We can even promote Babar (which I personally believe we should, as he eats up too many dot balls at 3, while he can play freely as an opener, as he played in PSL in some innings). Hence, Azhar should call it a day in one days and focus solely on Tests.

 

[MRSN]

regarding OP,

I doubt Azhar can take singles that easily. Its been like 7 years he has been permanent fixture of test side yet he can't rotate the strike..this task is as tough for him as hitting sixes. He needs really bad balls to put anything in the gap. If you look at the most no. Of dot balls played in last 7 years then Azhar is at 2nd after Misbah. Whenever he scores a fifity it takes him like a whole day.

 

[Sherlock]

you do know Pakistan lost to India because of Rohit Sharma

Please don't compare Rohit with Azhar, goodness sake

 

[Sherlock]

And what's the relation between Rohit and Azhar? Yes Rohit has the tendency to start slowly, but he also possesses an extra gear that no batsman in the world has, perhaps apart from de Villiers. Azhar is a poor man's Rohit (of the first 15 overs), but the problem is that he has only one gear. Azhar needs to retire from ODIs after the Champions Trophy. It is in the best interests of both Pakistan and Azhar himself. He can fully focus on what he is great at, i.e. opening in Tests.

Misbah made a blunder when he recommended him as captain in 2015, which is funny because he himself did not deem him good enough to be part of the team from 2013 onwards, and now Inzamam is making the same mistake by forcing Azhar out of his comfort-zone and asking him to learn new tricks at the age of 35.

At best, Azhar can produce a 100 (120) innings and that too against a mediocre bowling attack. Against the quality sides, he is 30 (50) type player and that is simply not good enough. He has done well against the attacks of SL, Bangladesh, WI and Zimbabwe, but he has struggled badly against superior bowling attacks of England, Australia, NZ and India.

Well said.

 

[croyden_ruiz]

Rofl Azhar Ali, the biggest joke in the team, forget about shots he can't even rotate strike. Pathetic and selfish who alone can destroy Pakistan cricket at a time when other teams are 20-30 years ahead.
[MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION]

When u justify Azhar Ali in the team then why cry about dot balls, politics in selection, no talent coming, etc.. Let him play and let Pakistanis not watch cricket again or get ridiculed.
Azhar ALi and HAfeez are so amazing for minnows, yesterday an australian was justifying to see West Indies and Afghanistan to play in CT2017, then this pathetic Pakistani batting. Hope Sri Lanka wins and Azhar bhai gets chances again and again,for others who watch Pakistani matches instead of watching paint dry.

 

[ManFan]

If people haven't realized in two years that Azhar Ali is the epitome of anti-modern LOI batsmen, than they never will. He's a wonderful Test player so let's please leave him be in the format he's most comfortable in.

 

[backfootpunch]

you do know Pakistan lost to India because of Rohit Sharma

Incorrect - main match winner who changed the momentum of the innings was Yuvi.

Rohit's innings was poor and could have cost his team if it wasn't for Wahab's appalling bowling.

 

[letme alone]

he ia good test player but in odi he need bat according to it formate . he looks hury when he bat in odi . that s not slution. he must be learn oneday skill, learn how he shot ,rotate strike ,has a diffrent shot for one delvery

 

[coy0607]

you do know Pakistan lost to India because of Rohit Sharma

You aren't seriously comparing Azhar to Rohit Sharma are you?

Rohit Sharma is a proven finisher and very clean hitter, and he has the luxury of a gun batting line up so he can afford slower starts

Azhar on the other hand has literally never played a top class knock and has no credibility when it comes to ODIs. With Pakistans weak batting we can't afford a batsmen who plays like Azhar .. he's gotta go

 

[mak36]

Azhar is a wonderful test batsmen but in my view he should not be in the ODI team. Whilst there is still room in modern cricket for a batsmen to bat right through the innings (think Amla, Root, Williamson etc), Azhar is found wanting in three respects:

1. Dot Ball Problem. He is incapable of rotating the strike- given the role he is trying to play this is a fatal shortcoming in the modern game. In my view, this reason alone is enough to justify his non-selection.

2. Deficiency in shot placement/boundary hitting- this develops on the first point- as mentioned whilst other teams still make room for a batsmen to play a holding position, the difference is the likes of Root/Williamson etc are able to hit boundaries risk free THROUGHOUT their innings, which Azhar is unable to do.

3. Even if he could rotate the strike, he lacks the ability to press on/play aggressive shots in the later overs. I would say this is less of a problem given this is not the main role of an opener.

But there is arguably a more fundamental reason for why Azhar is surplus to requirements in LOI:

4. The role Azhar is trying to play in the team is already being played by Babar. Babar is younger and an infinitely better LOI player- at the moment I think he is put under pressure when he comes out to bat as a result of the openers consuming too many dot balls. Removing Azhar from the team should give Babar the freedom to play his natural game.

Unlike others, I don't doubt Azhar's intentions and desire to improve (as was seen in the India match) but he never really looked comfortable/settled and I think it would be far better to invest in a younger player.

 

[Rayyman]

Hasn't performed well so far in the tournament. He hasn't been needed to play out the swinging new balls on green pitches because the balls aren't swinging and the pitches aren't green. So it seems like Inzamam has made a blunder in selecting him.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Becuase while you guys noticed Azhar's strike rate. No one noticed Rohit's strike rate in that particular match

i know im late to this but you still manage to boggle me. Rohit playing at the strike rate is the exception not the rule.

This guy has two double centuries in ODIs, how can you compare him to Azhar ?

 

[Abdullah]

I like Azhar but we have to have babar playing the bat through role, not Azhar and hafeez doing it at the same time. Im all for babar taking his time like Williamson does bit it looks wrong when Azhar and hafeez are at it too

 

[Hamad_H]

All he needs to do is pick the gaps for singles and double regularly as Zaman hits boundaries at the other end. No more of this leave for 10 balls and then come down the wicket for a big six out of the ground. The only question is whether he can rotate strike at 85-100SR from the start. He doesn't need an extra gear as long as he can pick the gaps for singles and doubles like India did vs. Us

 

[Zabbaz]

I am one who really likes Azhar as a batsman in all formats and feel he does not do justice to himself.

In the previous game, he tried to play an uncharacteristic shot, probably getting carried away with the success of Fakhar at the other end and paid the price.

All he was expected to do was to pick a single and let the others do the scoring - just be there when Pak needed him later.

In the SL game, I feel he will be under strict instructions to preserve his wicket but he has to score those singles; no big shots needed just be there and keep scoreboard moving.

Can he do it?

Why? I understand how he can be seen as a very good test player, but I don't understand why anyone would think he is or could be good in all formats. Could you please elaborate?

 

[Zabbaz]

Rofl Azhar Ali, the biggest joke in the team, forget about shots he can't even rotate strike. Pathetic and selfish who alone can destroy Pakistan cricket at a time when other teams are 20-30 years ahead.
[MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION]

When u justify Azhar Ali in the team then why cry about dot balls, politics in selection, no talent coming, etc.. Let him play and let Pakistanis not watch cricket again or get ridiculed.
Azhar ALi and HAfeez are so amazing for minnows, yesterday an australian was justifying to see West Indies and Afghanistan to play in CT2017, then this pathetic Pakistani batting. Hope Sri Lanka wins and Azhar bhai gets chances again and again,for others who watch Pakistani matches instead of watching paint dry.

The bold part seems like a very valid point

 

[saeedhk]

If Azhar continues to play ODIs regularly for the next three to four years, he may end up as an even poorer version of Misbah and that is saying something - for me, Misbah is one of the worst ODI batsmen to come out of Pakistan.

Azhar is already playing to the best of his abilities. If you think, with time, we will witness knocks such as 30 off 30 ball, then there is some bad news for you.