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[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Is the end getting close for Azhar Ali's career?

As most have said, Azhar was never the most talented bat around. He was just really gritty with a lot of temperament, but that only gets you so far

With Haris and Imam establishing themselves, Hafeez comeback, Azhars days definitely seem to be numbered
 
The only player in the world that would get a triple hundred yet look so unbalanced and disorganised.

He's awful against spin too. Simply awful. Shafiq is miles better than him, technically and structurally as well.
 
here we go again..where have I heard this before? yeah he's out of form. It happens but he has a proven record especially in the UAE..lets not get too carried away and give him a chance. We need him to fire and get some form back. How many tests has he played this year? not many.
 
It’s time to leave Azhar Ali behind (after the South African tour).

He is the same age as Alastair Cook was when he retired.

He is only 6 months younger than AB De Villiers was when he played his final Test. By the end of the South Africa tour he will be just 12 weeks younger than AB was when he retired.

He is in decline, and has only ever really thrived in favourable conditions anyway.
 
The clock is ticking.

Alastair Cook and AB De Villiers both retired at this age.....
 
Junaids said:
It’s time to leave Azhar Ali behind (after the South African tour).

He is the same age as Alastair Cook was when he retired.

He is only 6 months younger than AB De Villiers was when he played his final Test. By the end of the South Africa tour he will be just 12 weeks younger than AB was when he retired.

He is in decline, and has only ever really thrived in favourable conditions anyway.
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What are the alternatives?
 
It will be truly funny if hafeez is considered over ali as opener in south africa,as some pak fans seem to want to.Hafeez ...remember him always for the shot he played at mohali 2011.Hafeez is a little bunny outside of asia,no better than tailender.Azhar ali is far better test opener than that washed up FTB.
 
I have always liked Azhar Ali in the test team. But he has become very edgy over the last two years. Since he got picked in the ODI team and dropped from the ODI team, something changed.

He has been a true team man though. You ask him to open he will open. You ask him to bat in middle order, he will do that too.

But i am doubts on his position in the team though. May be Ahmed Shehzad or Fawad Alam deserve another go in place of Azhar.
 
It's just his third slump of his career. His first one started in South Africa 2013, he fought back with that hundred in the maghrib chase.
The second one started in late 2015 and ended with his century in 3rd Test against England in England.

This is only the third one. He will come back again, he just looks unsettled atm. He is a fighter and will continue to fight hopefully.
 
Rayyman said:
He had one good year and success got to his head imo. He's probably done now.
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How did success get to his head lol. Just cos he’s lost form doesn’t mean it’s due to a loss of discipline and hard work.

He really shouldn’t be batting at 3. Mickey has messed him about moving him up and down from the opener slot.
 
Junaids said:
Me too.

Players over 30 need to be consistent or leave.

Azhar Ali is 33.

Asad Shafiq is 32.

Sarfraz is 31.

I consider all three to be a series-by-series proposition, and if they can’t survive a minimum of 40 balls in 75% of their innings they need to be dropped.
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Azhar manages to survive 40 ball quite often problem is his 20 off 125 ball inns have no benefit to the team.
 
His inns in 1st inns was a shockingly poor one, you come into bat at 200/1 on easy 1st day wicket and proceeded to block, block, block. Allowed bowlers to settle into lines and lengths when they had been worked sround all day. He then doesnt rotate the strike and batsmen at other end loses momentum. So instead of pakistan racing to a big score quickly we sllowed aussies to get control of run flow in field. Azhar rarely plays to requirements of a match situation itd just block block block. He was dropped previously for plsying likr this then scored a 100 vs SL in 300 run chase and you think things would chsnge but they havent. You csnt just play at crease blocking and killing team momentum, otther batsemens momentum in games. Needs to buck his ideas as the kiwis will expose such situations that Aussies havent.
 
Boi said:
How did success get to his head lol. Just cos he’s lost form doesn’t mean it’s due to a loss of discipline and hard work.

He really shouldn’t be batting at 3. Mickey has messed him about moving him up and down from the opener slot.
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The guy you quoted is a fan-boy of Imad Wasim so it's funny to see him saying that success has gotten to Azhar's head. :))
 
Azhar has always had a unimpressive second innings record. Let’s just assume that he’s not out of form and he was very softly dismissed on a difficult batting pitch.
 
Boi said:
How did success get to his head lol. Just cos he’s lost form doesn’t mean it’s due to a loss of discipline and hard work.

He really shouldn’t be batting at 3. Mickey has messed him about moving him up and down from the opener slot.
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Azhar has never been known to be a team player. He plays the same way in all situations aside from one or two games. Selfish player.
 
Junaids said:
The clock is ticking.

Alastair Cook and AB De Villiers both retired at this age.....
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Batsmen in Pakistan are always late boomers because they learn their skills at the international level due to lack of quality and pitches in first class in Pakistan. Also, if Cook and Devlliers retired at the same age as Azhar Ali is right now it doesn’t mean that it’s time for Azhar Ali to hang his boots. Both Younis Khan and Misbah hit their peak in mid to late 30s.

Azhar Ali did well recently in the country circuit, he will be back and will be an asset for Pakistan in the future.
 
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Was never fan of him. He always makes ugly runs. Whenever he is batting i don't dare to watch the match. Awful player
 
I think he should stay for atleat 1-2 years. He’ll score runs maybe at a slightly less consistent rate then before but he will.
 
Sunny_majoka said:
Was never fan of him. He always makes ugly runs. Whenever he is batting i don't dare to watch the match. Awful player
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Ugly runs + he puts the viewer to sleep

And now he isn't scoring any runs at all, so selectors need to end the torture and drop him
 
Azhar about to get a pair in the next game. This thread is gonna get a lot bigger in the next couple weeks.
:babar
 
He's not going anywhere. We're gonna eventually return him back to opener after seeing all the replacements fail. These idiots just won't learn.
 
The only way to get the best out of Azhar Ali is to keep him in both ODI and test team. Our test cricket has massively reduced over the years (thanks to India not playing us). Azhar Ali is not a gifted player and he needs to play more international cricket to keep his flow and form. Team management will need to take a decision on this. Thats just my opinion.
 
As I said yesterday, New Zealand’s best chance of winning was to get him in early and keep him at the crease till the end.

He played out of his skin today, but it was predictably not enough. The last 4-5 overs exemplified why he will never be a top batsman.
 
Should be dropped now. Select saud in his place. Too limited. Clueless of how to chase this. His strategy of 1 run per over is the reason Pakistan lost it. He kept NZ too long in the game. Also, get rid of hafeez and bilal. Sarfaraz needs to be told that he is becoming a burden on the test team. Shafiq should be put on blast for throwing it away too.
 
gazza619 said:
The only way to get the best out of Azhar Ali is to keep him in both ODI and test team. Our test cricket has massively reduced over the years (thanks to India not playing us). Azhar Ali is not a gifted player and he needs to play more international cricket to keep his flow and form. Team management will need to take a decision on this. Thats just my opinion.
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Despite recent form he is still Pakistan's no.1 test batsman.

Rather than play him in pointless odi fixtures let him get a county stint, will only make him better.
 
I can’t a recall single batsman with such low level of confidence after playing 60+ Tests.
 
Madplayer said:
Should be dropped now. Select saud in his place. Too limited. Clueless of how to chase this. His strategy of 1 run per over is the reason Pakistan lost it. He kept NZ too long in the game. Also, get rid of hafeez and bilal. Sarfaraz needs to be told that he is becoming a burden on the test team. Shafiq should be put on blast for throwing it away too.
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Saud? have you lost your mind? lets get another inexperienced player in there and watch this team completly self destruct..this series is alive and we are still fighting..No dropping your best test bat isnt the answer. You need to get your other players especially the tail to stand up and be counted. if one of yasir or bilal had simply stuck it out for five overs we would have one. Or if your messiah Haris hadnt got out for a measly 4 or whatever it was we would have won..why dont you talk about these guys? Azhar fought till the end and just couldnt get us over the line but thats what happens in situations like this...
 
Feel a bit bad for the guy. Could have had a story to tell his grand-children. Got outdone by an umpire's call.
 
Why only Azhar? what about bulk of freeload pakistan carrying in test side? I have always seen people targeting azhar and other useless players are never talked about. Azhar atleast was there till end & if there was someone else to support him then getting this 5 runs wasn't hard.
 
He is our Best test batsmen in the team currently and he is Andon main kana raaj.

Its the other andhay that needs to be booted out first.
 
Blame lies on the rest of the batting!

Was it worth having Bilal over a specialist spinner?

Clearly, we need more players like bilal.
 
Despite the fact that he scored 60 odd runs, he is partly responsible fore the loss as his idiocy caused Babar Azam to get run out. We would've cruised to victory if not for Azhars stupidity. Test cricket is about patience and although Azhar Ali knows how to do Tuk-Tuk, he failed to use his brain when running Babar out.
 
He was not reaponsible for babar’s runout.. thats ridiculous. When the ball goes behind square, its the guy on the bowling ends call and its his danger end.. he did the right thing.. babar was ball wstching. He is the one at fault..
 
the Great Khan said:
Saud? have you lost your mind? lets get another inexperienced player in there and watch this team completly self destruct..this series is alive and we are still fighting..No dropping your best test bat isnt the answer. You need to get your other players especially the tail to stand up and be counted. if one of yasir or bilal had simply stuck it out for five overs we would have one. Or if your messiah Haris hadnt got out for a measly 4 or whatever it was we would have won..why dont you talk about these guys? Azhar fought till the end and just couldnt get us over the line but thats what happens in situations like this...
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Azhar just doesnt inspire confidence when he is at the crease. He is in the mould of Misbah. He can stick around for a while but the finishing touch never comes because of lack of ability overall. At least with Saud you know he has a solid domestic record behind his back and he is in form as well..can bowl too. Dont forget Azhar is in his mid 30s now. I know Azhar wont be dropped so soon. It never works that way in Pak. But somebody does need to be groomed to take it over from him. And thats Saud.

Yasir and Bilal are bowlers. They played stupid shots but we cant blame them as its not their primary job to bat. Yes, i agree about Haris, he throws it away way too often but we know he is twice the batsman Azhar can be and he will play better innings than what Azhar has played in his career.
 
Mamoon said:
New Zealand’s best chance of winning was to get him in early and keep him at the crease till the end.
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Seriously? Yes, he did fail to get us over the line, but you really think he is the first person to take the blame for this? But then knowing the sad person that you are, this is probably just meant to provoke.
Without Azhar we wouldn't have managed to cross 100. He isn't the most confident player but at least he didn't try to take the easy way out like the captain and some of the tailenders.
 
as-95 said:
Despite the fact that he scored 60 odd runs, he is partly responsible fore the loss as his idiocy caused Babar Azam to get run out. We would've cruised to victory if not for Azhars stupidity. Test cricket is about patience and although Azhar Ali knows how to do Tuk-Tuk, he failed to use his brain when running Babar out.
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Unfortunate it was babar who called for that single but then stopped whole Azhar was already on the move. It should hv been Azhars call though since babar had his back towards the ball but he called and then stopped by that time it was all too late.
Sarfraraz's wicket lost us the game and there is no way Bilal should bat ahead of yasir and hasan if he ever gets picked for test team again which I doubt. Shadab should and would come in his placs for the remainder of the series. Hafeez must also go.
 
Been a good servant in some truly awful Pakistan sides, but yes, time to say goodbye.
 
amvbfm said:
Seriously? Yes, he did fail to get us over the line, but you really think he is the first person to take the blame for this? But then knowing the sad person that you are, this is probably just meant to provoke.
Without Azhar we wouldn't have managed to cross 100. He isn't the most confident player but at least he didn't try to take the easy way out like the captain and some of the tailenders.
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The game does not work that way. Had Azhar been dismissed early, perhaps Babar would not have been run out or Sarfraz or Shafiq would not have faced the deliveries that got them out.

However, there is not a single top batsman in the world who would have handled the last 4-5 overs the way Azhar did. I am not saying all of them would have taken their teams home, but they would surely have backed themselves to take charge instead of doing whatever the nonsense that Azhar was upto.

What did he expect was going to happen? He was never going to win the game by taking one single every over for 10 overs. If not him, Abbas would eventually have been dismissed.

His lack of confidence for a batsman with plenty of experience is what I would call “sad”.
 
Mamoon said:
The game does not work that way. Had Azhar been dismissed early, perhaps Babar would not have been run out or Sarfraz or Shafiq would not have faced the deliveries that got them out.

However, there is not a single top batsman in the world who would have handled the last 4-5 overs the way Azhar did. I am not saying all of them would have taken their teams home, but they would surely have backed themselves to take charge instead of doing whatever the nonsense that Azhar was upto.

What did he expect was going to happen? He was never going to win the game by taking one single every over for 10 overs. If not him, Abbas would eventually have been dismissed.

His lack of confidence for a batsman with plenty of experience is what I would call “sad”.
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I disagree. Williamson had 9 fielders riding the voundaey.. nobody in their right mind would attempt a boundary on such a slow pitch.. azhar did the right thing.. where he effed up was exposing aome of the tail enders to face almost 4-5 balls.. he should have started playing the waybhe did with abbas as soon as sardarqz got out. He should uave shielded everyone from bilal asif and below
 
Stewie said:
I disagree. Williamson had 9 fielders riding the voundaey.. nobody in their right mind would attempt a boundary on such a slow pitch.. azhar did the right thing.. where he effed up was exposing aome of the tail enders to face almost 4-5 balls.. he should have started playing the waybhe did with abbas as soon as sardarqz got out. He should uave shielded everyone from bilal asif and below
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His strategy of strolling his way to the target by taking 1 per over for 10 overs was disastrous. 99/100 it would fail.

I am not saying he had to aim for the stands, but if he had any skill, there were plenty of opportunities to find the gaps and go for a boundary.

He is a ridiculously limited batsman and today was just another example.
 
He
Mamoon said:
His strategy of strolling his way to the target by taking 1 per over for 10 overs was disastrous. 99/100 it would fail.

I am not saying he had to aim for the stands, but if he had any skill, there were plenty of opportunities to find the gaps and go for a boundary.

He is a ridiculously limited batsman and today was just another example.
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Well thats what test cricket is about.. you eliminate the risk. I think we are totally missing the point and blaming azhar due to boiling emotion. If you think about it, starting from hafeez, then babar, sarfaraz, bilal, hasan.. they all played terrrible terrible shots.. if they had all showed the application azhar started showing towards the end, we would have won. And i ammnot even a fan of azhar. I think the way he exposed yasir and bilal to face out almost 4-5 balls of an over was atrocious..

But see thats the thing about test cricket.. you could have still won withiut the skill of finding boundaries with 9 fielders protecting it.. by just biding your time and playing it safe but our batsmen screwed up COLLECTIVELY.. imam and asad were the only two who go out to somewhat decent balls..
 
Mamoon said:
The game does not work that way. Had Azhar been dismissed early, perhaps Babar would not have been run out or Sarfraz or Shafiq would not have faced the deliveries that got them out.

However, there is not a single top batsman in the world who would have handled the last 4-5 overs the way Azhar did. I am not saying all of them would have taken their teams home, but they would surely have backed themselves to take charge instead of doing whatever the nonsense that Azhar was upto.

What did he expect was going to happen? He was never going to win the game by taking one single every over for 10 overs. If not him, Abbas would eventually have been dismissed.

His lack of confidence for a batsman with plenty of experience is what I would call “sad”.
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And again we are back to discussing "what could/would have been". We have had a similar discussion once before. Its just as likely (in fact given the past record of Pakistan far more likely) that they would have lost by a far bigger margin.

For once I agree with you that Azhar is not the most confident bat in the world. I am mighty sure he did not trust himself to get these runs for Pakistan but what needs to be recognized is that unlike 4 other batsmen he did not throw it away with a mindless slog. That is the easiest and the most deplorable way out, especially in a test match chase where you aren't constrained by wickets. I also agree that Azhar's strike rotation with the tailenders left a lot to be desired but blaming him for more than that is extremely unfair.

Also as much as we might think otherwise, conquering nerves and anxiety is not just a matter of how much you have played. A anxious or nervous player might get used to it but it doesn't mean that he will master all his fears, regardless of how many games he has played. Azhar didn't handle it well but at least he did not implode like the others did.
 
amvbfm said:
And again we are back to discussing "what could/would have been". We have had a similar discussion once before. Its just as likely (in fact given the past record of Pakistan far more likely) that they would have lost by a far bigger margin.

For once I agree with you that Azhar is not the most confident bat in the world. I am mighty sure he did not trust himself to get these runs for Pakistan but what needs to be recognized is that unlike 4 other batsmen he did not throw it away with a mindless slog. That is the easiest and the most deplorable way out, especially in a test match chase where you aren't constrained by wickets. I also agree that Azhar's strike rotation with the tailenders left a lot to be desired but blaming him for more than that is extremely unfair.

Also as much as we might think otherwise, conquering nerves and anxiety is not just a matter of how much you have played. A anxious or nervous player might get used to it but it doesn't mean that he will master all his fears, regardless of how many games he has played. Azhar didn't handle it well but at least he did not implode like the others did.
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I agree that Azhar was not the biggest culprit today. However, much like the first Test vs Sri Lanka last year, his needless negative approach in the first innings played a big role in allowing Sri Lanka/New Zealand to win the game.

No doubt he showed fight today, but his tactics were disastrous. He was never going to succeed with the way he was approaching the last 4-5 overs.
 
Mamoon said:
I agree that Azhar was not the biggest culprit today. However, much like the first Test vs Sri Lanka last year, his needless negative approach in the first innings played a big role in allowing Sri Lanka/New Zealand to win the game.

No doubt he showed fight today, but his tactics were disastrous. He was never going to succeed with the way he was approaching the last 4-5 overs.
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Come on it's not easy chasing in 4th innings. Even world's best batsman struggle to do it. Yes he came too close but others are to be blamed for not supporting him. We have seen virat choke in 4th innings when 30 runs are left & azhar is still limited batsman but gave his 100%.
 
Keep hearing about Saud Shakeel and I would also like to see the look of him in Test matches but if history goes by, I wouldn't bet against him turning out to be another bottler. That's what we produce these days.

A damning stat - No Pakistani test player that debuted in FC cricket after 2010 has ever scored a Test century.
 
Sam99 said:
Come on it's not easy chasing in 4th innings. Even world's best batsman struggle to do it. Yes he came too close but others are to be blamed for not supporting him. We have seen virat choke in 4th innings when 30 runs are left & azhar is still limited batsman but gave his 100%.
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I don’t blame Azhar for not taking the team over the line; I blame him for his cowardly approach that will not work 99/100 times. You cannot walk your way to 10 runs in 10 overs with a number 11. It is not going to work.

Kohli or Root or any other great batsman may not have necessarily won the match, but they would definitely have shown more courage and would have tried to finish the game off with a boundary, which is all that Pakistan needed.

Azhar completely choked in the last few overs. If he was made of wax, he would have melted.
 
You can’t be effing serious nor were you watching the match. The ball was turning square and the outfield was like glue. A boundary along the ground would have been near impossible. He outfoxed Williamson by taking singles when he could and turning down others. His only mistake was that hasan and Yasir didn’t execute the same plan and wanted big shots before getting set. Obviously this wasn’t azhars fault but he could have allowed time to soak up pressure and imposed his game plan early...but he is a bit of a ditherer.

For some reason Pakistan threw out the formula that has worked so well over the years namely 1-2 runs per over and slowly milking runs in a chase...instead they all looked to finish the game off early and perished. This wasn’t azhars fault.
 
Could have given a new lease of life to his fading career had he won us the game today. Was so near yet so far unfortunately. I think this defeat would either crumble him completely or provide him some determination. Next 2 tests are a make or break for him personally. Has to bat his best in next 2 tests in order for him to prolong his career otherwise it is all doom & gloom for him.
 
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Chasing is clearly not his strength. However, people are being too harsh. He averages 45 in test cricket and has double-tons. He's a quality test batsman and should have at least two more years worth of gas left.
 
Last 2 years , he's barely averaging 32 with the bat. After that scintillating double in Melbourne, he seems to have lost his touch.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Last 2 years , he's barely averaging 32 with the bat. After that scintillating double in Melbourne, he seems to have lost his touch.
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Nothing to do with losing touch, he just doesnt have other players carrying him in the team now.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Nothing to do with losing touch, he just doesnt have other players carrying him in the team now.
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Oh please stop it with your constant negativity. The whole team can’t bat or at least has major flaws in certain departments. Some either cant rotate the strike, some go too hard and fast without playing straight, some have too many brain fades, some can’t run between the wickets, some can’t get out of one day mode. And yet you constantly pick on the one players who at least shows the determination to guts it out. Yes he has major shortcomings but it’s not a simple solution to kick him out
 
Stewie said:
I disagree. Williamson had 9 fielders riding the voundaey.. nobody in their right mind would attempt a boundary on such a slow pitch.. azhar did the right thing.. where he effed up was exposing aome of the tail enders to face almost 4-5 balls.. he should have started playing the waybhe did with abbas as soon as sardarqz got out. He should uave shielded everyone from bilal asif and below
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It is not impossible to hit a boundry by playing a ground stroke with impeccable timing and placement and where 9 fielders are on the boundary line. It is not impossible to play and maneovre the ball around the ground for 2 runs when you have 9 fielders on the boundary line.

Have seen the likes of Saeed Anwar and Graham Thorpe do it in various situations. But then again this is a night watchman we are talking about.
 
I can’t be the only one that feels he could’ve gotten two pretty easily if he changed his approach a bit.

If he used soft hands and picked the right areas he could’ve ran quick twos easily.

He wasn’t the reason we lost today but you have to work with what you have. He had a big opportunity to win and he bottled it.
 
Mamoon said:
I agree that Azhar was not the biggest culprit today. However, much like the first Test vs Sri Lanka last year, his needless negative approach in the first innings played a big role in allowing Sri Lanka/New Zealand to win the game.

No doubt he showed fight today, but his tactics were disastrous. He was never going to succeed with the way he was approaching the last 4-5 overs.
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Agree that his tactics weren't the best but it is a known fact that he is limited in that way. It is not easy for someone to change the way they play, especially under such circumstances. What we are asking of Azhar is similar to asking an ultra aggressive batsman to hunker down for a session or two without scoring (and such batsmen usually don't get as much flak if they fail to play according to the situation). Add to that the pressure of the chase and the constant fall of wickets from the other end and even the best players are likely to have a brain fade. Yes, Azhar could have done a lot better but I think the blame being assigned to him is unfair and disproportionate.
 
Agree that other players should be blamed more than Azhar but when you are an experienced set batsman and have made it that far, you should be able to put it away. Poor shot selection, nerves, pressure...not sure what it was but these are the few occasions in the game that separate good players from great players. Unfortunately, Azhar Ali failed to show any greatness.
 
Today may not be the best day to call for Azhar's head, but he clearly needs to go. Can't think of many more batsmen that were as limited as him, that have lasted so long in the international circuit. He has a handful of shots, is a timid player, and adds nothing in the way of bowling/fielding. He is holding the team back.

Same comments apply to Shafiq. We don't need 40s from our vice captain and one of the most experienced bats. Yes the ball was turning today, but these two are our best bats and if they can't get us over the line against Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi then they really need to be shown the door.
 
Regardless of match situation Azhar comes out and bats in the same pathetic way and kills all momentum, puts all pressure back on himself and on the team. His batting with the tail overall was pretty pathetic and showed little intelligence until Abbas came out, Yes the tail played some bad shots but why expose them so much? Babar did same in the 1st inns as well, wheres the game intelligence.

Lets have a look at his recent batting

1st Test Aussies - 200/1 comes out and slows whole inns down to the point where we crawled for 2 sessions when on top and took ages then to get 450 in 1st inns. His 2nd inns effort was just as pathetic.

2nd test Aussies - 1st inns got out poorly and 2nd inns with a huge lead proceeds to block and plod.

1st new zealand - Plays a nightwatchmen knock of 22 off 95 balls against killing any momentum of team scoring. 2nd inns actually plays pretty positive early on for once (probably as he knows he might be dropped) and then as inns goes on starts to play slow again and not shield the tail properly in parts.

But he supposedly guts it out, he was dropped once before from side for negative batting, came back and batted positive in run chase vs SL and then back to pathetic batting.

Whats point in occupying crease and not scoring any runs, rotating strike or killing team momentum. Hes not suited to number 3 batting and regardless of scoring 50 here he should still get the boot.
 
j_kazmi said:
I can’t be the only one that feels he could’ve gotten two pretty easily if he changed his approach a bit.

If he used soft hands and picked the right areas he could’ve ran quick twos easily.

He wasn’t the reason we lost today but you have to work with what you have. He had a big opportunity to win and he bottled it.
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This i agree with. I dont think boundary was a safe option but i was wondering the same thing why is he. Not putting the ball in the leg side with soft hands so it doesnt travel quickly enough and he can steal a double. I can understand thiugh it was tough because with patel, it was going to be against the spin and i think thats how he eventually got out..
 
Mamoon said:
I can’t a recall single batsman with such low level of confidence after playing 60+ Tests.
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Sad but I saw his it coming right from the very begining. His limitations do worse on team's moral and make everyone feel like as if the conditions/pitch/bowlers are a lot more dangerous than they actually are and they (at times) tend to take the risks they normally would not take.

I too have had similar feelings about Azhar since SA series in 2010. For a # 3 player, He needs too many variables in his favor to even score those 130+ balls 40 run innings even on those slow/easy tracks of UAE/Pak/SL/India/Zim/WI, all of that results in making the rest of team feel like as if they areplaying at WACA/SA against Waqar/Ambrose/Lee/Marshall - which is not helpful at all.
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http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...play-Test-cricket-again&p=5597196#post5597196
 
34 years old in two months.

All his contemporaries like Alastair Cook and AB De Villiers have retired, and they scored twice as many Test runs as he did.

And his stats and our eyes tell us that he is in permanent decline.

Why is he still in the team?

Azhar, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz are all over 30 and in decline. Why are they still in the team?
 
Junaids said:
34 years old in two months.

All his contemporaries like Alastair Cook and AB De Villiers have retired, and they scored twice as many Test runs as he did.

And his stats and our eyes tell us that he is in permanent decline.

Why is he still in the team?

Azhar, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz are all over 30 and in decline. Why are they still in the team?
Click to expand...

Those guys are going to have more runs then him because they have also played more games. Both Shafiq and Sarfraz are far worse, am all for having youth in the team but Azhar shouldn't be the one to be axed after one average year when he has largely done a decent job for us compared to everyone else. Cook has averaged less then 34 for two consecutive years in his 30's yet bounced back. Also, we can afford to have 1 or 2 fellas with a bit of experience, it just makes no sense for Azhar to be the one to go ahead of Sarfraz and Shafiq it would just be suicide really.
 
Who will be the replacement for Azhar Ali?

As of now, the only batters fit in Pakistan team are: -

_____
Shan( debatable as he needs to prove himself through consistent performance)
Azhar
Harris
Babar
_____
______
Four bowlers
 
No it’s Asad & Sarfraz who need to leave the test team,we need Azhar as an opener

Azhar
Shan. Fakhar,
Harris
Babar
Saad
Rizwan wk
Saud/Faheem/Starboy (cringe nikname)
Aamir
Hassan
Shaheen/shah
Abbas

Abid Ali
Sami Aslam
M Musa
 
Junaids said:
34 years old in two months.

All his contemporaries like Alastair Cook and AB De Villiers have retired, and they scored twice as many Test runs as he did.

And his stats and our eyes tell us that he is in permanent decline.

Why is he still in the team?

Azhar, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz are all over 30 and in decline. Why are they still in the team?
Click to expand...

You could make the same argument for Amla who is also in decline but as they're aren't any suitable replacements and the fact that if you remove one too many experienced players at the same time you won't have much stability in the batting order unless you have 2 ATG batsmen in the side.

South Africa are without AB de Villiers and losing Amla now may weaken that inexperienced batting line up even further. Shafiq and Sarfraz are just awful and need to be discarded immediately because I feel there are adequate replacements in Rizwan (for Sarfraz) and either Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel (for Asad Shafiq) who can't do any worse.

Pakistan need Azhar Ali to play as an opener firstly because that's where he has performed the best. He averages higher as an opener than anywhere else in the batting order. Not to forget he scored his MCG double hundred and triple hundred against the Windies as an opener as well. However most of the fan base on PP seem to be of the opinion that he's best suited at number 3 when you refer to their test XIs.

Secondly, given the inexperience and frailty in the Pakistan batting order we need to persist with him for another year. He will be playing for Somerset again over the summer, so I think this experience will allow him to maintain form as well as keep fresh.

If he isn't going to open then we'll see more of the same from him next year unfortunately.

Going forward into 2019 this would be my ideal test XIs in and outside Asia:

In Asia:

Fakhar
Azhar Ali
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel/Umar Akmal
Rizwan
Bilal Asif (poor bat for no.8 but no other alternatives)
Yasir
Abbas
Shaheen/Hasan Ali

Outside Asia:

Imam
Azhar Ali
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Fakhar/Umar Akmal
Rizwan
Faheem/Shadab
Amir/Hasan Ali
Abbas
Shaheen
 
Last edited:
He is what he is. A legspinner turned gritty batsman who through hard work and bloody mindedness has managed to forge a decent career for himself - but whose limitations are painfully apparent from time to time.

The Abu Dhabi chase vs NZ exposed this. A batsman with a good range of strokeplay would've found the gaps in the field or backed their power game to hit over the heads of the boundary riders. However Azhar looked every bit the legspinner turned batsman, every run a struggle and making batting look so difficult despite having crossed fifty.

He is a very good supporting player but you cannot build a batting unit around someone so lacking in dynamism and with an awful 4th innings record.

I guess he's been moved to 3 as he's the most experienced batsman who you don't want to lose early to the new ball - but given we constantly lose early wickets he practically opens anyway. It was a terrible mistake to demote him as despite his flaws, he still has the best technique against the new ball and hope Mickey rectifies this.
 
Azhar Ali is older than Alastair Cook and AB de Villiers were when they retired.

His reputation is built on runs in Australia at the age of 31.

He’s now about to have his 34th birthday and is failing badly in similar conditions in South Africa.

What is the point of keeping in the team a failing geriatric batsman?
 
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