Well, it's happened again.
Yet again, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have failed when their team really needed them.
And it's been happening for years.
In South Africa on this ground at Cape Town in 2012-13, Pakistan collapsed from 126-3 to 152-6, a lead of 164. Azhar Ali was 65 not out and there were 15 overs left to the new ball.
The next ball Azhar edged to the keeper and it was 152-7. Half an hour later it was 169 all out.
Same story at the MCG in December 2016. Azhar Ali scored a masterly 205 not out in the First Innings on a dead wicket when there was no scoreboard pressure, and Pakistan declared at 443-9. Australia replied with 624-8 and then declared 4 overs before Lunch on the Final Day when there had been just 15 wickets in 4 days.
Again Pakistan started to collapse - they were 63-4 when Asad Shafiq came in to bat in the 20th over, with the ball having gone soft and 45 overs for them to survive.
But Shafiq lasted 10 overs before falling to Nathan Lyon on the stroke of Tea.
(Yes, Younis and Misbah had failed but they usually did outside Asia when they were too old).
So Azhar needed to bat out the final session with Sarfraz and the tail, but against an old ball. It was 30 overs old when Shafiq got out.
On that last afternoon, Sarfraz Ahmed lasted 20 overs and even Mohammad Amir lasted 12 overs at the crease. The match would have been drawn if Azhar didn't get out.
But Azhar only lasted 5 overs after tea before he was out LBW to a 35 over old ball.
So what have we got here?
Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are now almost 34 years old and almost 33 years old respectively. Everyone else their age in world cricket (except for Shaun Marsh) has been thrown out forever if they fail as often as Azhar and Shafiq do.
But they are both still too mentally weak to deliver when the pressure is on.
Both are at least the equal of Cheteshwar Pujara in terms of ability, but whereas he can dig deep and fight and fight and fight, they clearly don't have the stomach or the nerves to do that.
But why are we even here?
Umar Akmal is still only 28 years old, but because he is much more talented than Azhar Ali he was a fixture in the team when Azhar Ali was struggling to get into the side.
When the spotfixing scandal happened at Lords in August 2010:
Azhar Ali was 25 years old and averaged 26.45 after 6 Tests, all outside Asia.
Umar Akmal was 20 years old and averaged 37.18 after 12 Tests, all outside Asia.
But Umar Akmal played 4 more Tests over the next 11 months, with scores of:
4
33
47
56
30
15.
And after that Umar Akmal was never selected again. He was labeled a trouble-maker.
(No, please don't raise the shadow of fixing. No charges have ever been made against him, and if you read Ed Hawkins' "Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy" you will see that more senior batsmen in the team were the subject of far more serious rumours than Umar Akmal was).
Yes, Umar Akmal is no genius. Was David Warner?
Yes, Umar Akmal is self-centered and not a "team man".
But this is a man who emerged in Test cricket in November 2009 against a rampant Shane Bond, and on debut he did this:
129 as Shane Bond took 5-107
75 as Shane Bond took 3-46.
It's time to tell it as it is.
Pakistan has spent the last 8 years refusing top pick its best batsman because he is dumb, obnoxious and narcissistic. These are the so-called "character grounds" by which he is endlessly excluded.
(I don't see much more to like about the personalities of Kohli or Warner, but hey, there you go.)
And instead he has had to watch while two inferior batsmen are persisted with endlessly on "character grounds", when their character makes them popular team-mates even though they endlessly choke under pressure.
Yes, Umar Akmal has made bad choices in those 8 years. With the door to a Test recall clearly closed, he was dazzled by Shahid Afridi and his slogging mentality and has endlessly thrown away his wicket in limited overs matches.
But Umar Akmal is still a far more capable batsman than any other Pakistani apart from his cousin Babar Azam.
And in case you think that Umar Akmal's form doesn't merit a Test place, his last two First Class scores a month ago were:
113
52
Azhar Ali is about to be 34 years old.
Asad Shafiq is about to be 33 years old.
Umar Akmal is 28 years old.
Surely the time has come to stop making the same mistakes, and to swallow a bit of pride and recognize that the "character" that made Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq easy to work with and compliant also made them mentally weak.
Yet again, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have failed when their team really needed them.
And it's been happening for years.
In South Africa on this ground at Cape Town in 2012-13, Pakistan collapsed from 126-3 to 152-6, a lead of 164. Azhar Ali was 65 not out and there were 15 overs left to the new ball.
The next ball Azhar edged to the keeper and it was 152-7. Half an hour later it was 169 all out.
Same story at the MCG in December 2016. Azhar Ali scored a masterly 205 not out in the First Innings on a dead wicket when there was no scoreboard pressure, and Pakistan declared at 443-9. Australia replied with 624-8 and then declared 4 overs before Lunch on the Final Day when there had been just 15 wickets in 4 days.
Again Pakistan started to collapse - they were 63-4 when Asad Shafiq came in to bat in the 20th over, with the ball having gone soft and 45 overs for them to survive.
But Shafiq lasted 10 overs before falling to Nathan Lyon on the stroke of Tea.
(Yes, Younis and Misbah had failed but they usually did outside Asia when they were too old).
So Azhar needed to bat out the final session with Sarfraz and the tail, but against an old ball. It was 30 overs old when Shafiq got out.
On that last afternoon, Sarfraz Ahmed lasted 20 overs and even Mohammad Amir lasted 12 overs at the crease. The match would have been drawn if Azhar didn't get out.
But Azhar only lasted 5 overs after tea before he was out LBW to a 35 over old ball.
So what have we got here?
Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are now almost 34 years old and almost 33 years old respectively. Everyone else their age in world cricket (except for Shaun Marsh) has been thrown out forever if they fail as often as Azhar and Shafiq do.
But they are both still too mentally weak to deliver when the pressure is on.
Both are at least the equal of Cheteshwar Pujara in terms of ability, but whereas he can dig deep and fight and fight and fight, they clearly don't have the stomach or the nerves to do that.
But why are we even here?
Umar Akmal is still only 28 years old, but because he is much more talented than Azhar Ali he was a fixture in the team when Azhar Ali was struggling to get into the side.
When the spotfixing scandal happened at Lords in August 2010:
Azhar Ali was 25 years old and averaged 26.45 after 6 Tests, all outside Asia.
Umar Akmal was 20 years old and averaged 37.18 after 12 Tests, all outside Asia.
But Umar Akmal played 4 more Tests over the next 11 months, with scores of:
4
33
47
56
30
15.
And after that Umar Akmal was never selected again. He was labeled a trouble-maker.
(No, please don't raise the shadow of fixing. No charges have ever been made against him, and if you read Ed Hawkins' "Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy" you will see that more senior batsmen in the team were the subject of far more serious rumours than Umar Akmal was).
Yes, Umar Akmal is no genius. Was David Warner?
Yes, Umar Akmal is self-centered and not a "team man".
But this is a man who emerged in Test cricket in November 2009 against a rampant Shane Bond, and on debut he did this:
129 as Shane Bond took 5-107
75 as Shane Bond took 3-46.
It's time to tell it as it is.
Pakistan has spent the last 8 years refusing top pick its best batsman because he is dumb, obnoxious and narcissistic. These are the so-called "character grounds" by which he is endlessly excluded.
(I don't see much more to like about the personalities of Kohli or Warner, but hey, there you go.)
And instead he has had to watch while two inferior batsmen are persisted with endlessly on "character grounds", when their character makes them popular team-mates even though they endlessly choke under pressure.
Yes, Umar Akmal has made bad choices in those 8 years. With the door to a Test recall clearly closed, he was dazzled by Shahid Afridi and his slogging mentality and has endlessly thrown away his wicket in limited overs matches.
But Umar Akmal is still a far more capable batsman than any other Pakistani apart from his cousin Babar Azam.
And in case you think that Umar Akmal's form doesn't merit a Test place, his last two First Class scores a month ago were:
113
52
Azhar Ali is about to be 34 years old.
Asad Shafiq is about to be 33 years old.
Umar Akmal is 28 years old.
Surely the time has come to stop making the same mistakes, and to swallow a bit of pride and recognize that the "character" that made Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq easy to work with and compliant also made them mentally weak.
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