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When are Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq going to take up responsibility in Test matches?

An insult to Younis and Misbah to suggest these two cowards could "replace" them. Support acts at best.

Time to end this infatuation with Shafiq and hold him accountable.
 
Even with a 3-0 thrashing here, these two failures will be selected again in test matches due to fact we wont play a series after this for at least 6/7 months.
 
Test of character for Azhar Ali - can he overcome his demons against the short ball. I am backing him. Too good a batsman to have 3 poor tests in a go.
 
Now Azhar Ali has got a golden duck in a dead rubber. Not looking good for him
 
Azhar and Asad built their careers at a time when Younis and Misbah were burdened with the responsibility of carrying our batting. When asked to take the mantle from those two these guys failed miserably.

There are a myriad of reasons why these two have failed. Many of them are systematic. Some of the blame must fall on the two players who have simply not improved mentally, physically, or technically. Both players are unlikely to improve.

Personally I think both players bat in the wrong position. I think Azhar is better opener than a Number 3. I think Asad should bat at No. 3 where he should be encouraged to play strokes as opposed to playing survivalist cricket lower down .
 
hadi123 said:
Now Azhar Ali has got a golden duck in a dead rubber. Not looking good for him
Click to expand...

Peter Osgood said:
Azhar away tours 2018-2019

Ireland 4 + 2
England 50, 4, 2 + 11
South Africa 36, 0, 2, 6 + 0

:asghar:asghar:asghar
Click to expand...

Corridor of Uncertainty said:
Test of character for Azhar Ali - can he overcome his demons against the short ball. I am backing him. Too good a batsman to have 3 poor tests in a go.
Click to expand...
He’s averaging 28.58 in 13 Tests since Misbah and Younis retired.

95% of batsmen are finished by his age (34 next month).

Clearly Azhar is in that 95%. It’s all over now.
 
Junaids said:
He’s averaging 28.58 in 13 Tests since Misbah and Younis retired.

95% of batsmen are finished by his age (34 next month).

Clearly Azhar is in that 95%. It’s all over now.
Click to expand...
It is disastrous the effect his failing form has had on Pakistan's morale.
 
They're an embarassment. Score of Pakistan's last Jo'burg test in 2013 were shown, and Pollock was surprised how Shafiq and Azhar continue to stay in the team that collapsed to 49. Pakistani bowlers bowled well there also restricting SA to 260 odd.

Pollock said these players play for their places not the side, even the world knows there is no use of carrying these seniors. Selection committee of 2013 and 2019 isx'nt that different that continues to keep vegetative-mindset players in the team.
 
0 for Azhar and 0 for Asad No change in status quo - both doing themselves no favours.
 
MenInG said:
0 for Azhar and 0 for Asad No change in status quo - both doing themselves no favours.
Click to expand...

But our bowlers are the problem and these seniors are perfect according to our loud mouth rubbish captain.
 
I remember in the late 80s and early 90s, when the ‘kids’ in the Pakistan top order would fail when batting , and Miandad and Saleem Malik used to go out to bat, it felt like the ‘men’ were out there now, and you had a reassurance they would deliver. This legacy carried on with Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Yousaf some years later, who again looked like men in comparison to the kids batting before them, and again they had a reassuring presence about them..and in the next era it was Younis Khan and Misbah up Haq taking on this role of senior batsmen.

The point is in all these eras, the senior batsmen for Pakistan looked like while they might have had their technical deficiencies even in some conditions, but they were exceptional when it came to handling pressure situations with their calmness and cool temperaments. They really looked like men who could show the kids how it is done at this level, just watch and learn.

Now we have Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq as the senior duo - decent batsmen but not quite the same aura and ability to handle pressure situations. There is no feeling of reassurance when they go out to bat with a youngster that they will show them how it is done at this level and in these difficult situations.
 
Shan and Babar have been our only good performers with the bat in this series. As usual, Pakistan's obsession with non-performing "seniors" and "the importance of experience" continues.
 
Lol, if these two aren't dropped from the next squad, serious questions will need to be asked.

Bottom line is: the youngsters are standing up, the "seniors" are failing.
 
mak36 said:
Lol, if these two aren't dropped from the next squad, serious questions will need to be asked.

Bottom line is: the youngsters are standing up, the "seniors" are failing.
Click to expand...

The funny thing is that the captain has gone after the bowlers publicly but hasn't uttered a word against these two lol
 
Ahson8 said:
The funny thing is that the captain has gone after the bowlers publicly but hasn't uttered a word against these two lol
Click to expand...

Shafiq is his best buddy.

Sarfraz and Shafiq are a mafia. VC, C.
 
VwOflj7.png
 
Azhar is almost 36 (real age). His hand eye coordination and reflexes are not the same. He is basically done.

Asad was and always will be inconsistent. Our batting is so fragile that we cannot bear such a person.

What is their left? Forget the responsibility. Only youngsters like Babar, Haris can save our blushes.
 
Just let this horror show end and we won't see these two for a while.

I can't believe people here were advocating for Azhar to be made captain or a spot in the ODI team. He is mentally shot right now to make any sort of difference.
 
They never will take responsibility. No point in continuously bumping this thread. They don't have the ability or mentality to lead a batting line up.
 
A decision needs to be made about azhar and shafiq

Are pakistan going to continue playing 2 pretty avge batsmen who should really have kicked on 3-4 years back to be the backbone of this poor batting team?

What are they really bringing to the team with their mid to late 30s avges?

Or should a chance be given to others who potentially have a much higher ceiling thsn these 2 have reached
 
Why Pakistani media houses are so reluctant to speak against Shafiq and Azhar?

As everyone knows despite them being the most experienced players in the lineup of Pakistan. Both of them have failed miserabely since Misbah and Younis retired and the axe of criticism by Pakistani media always fall on youngsters. Why no one talks about Azhar Ali being absolutely pathetic since Oct 2017? They will blame Musa Khan for the failure in the series but no one speaks against the seniors of Pakistan team.
 
Azhar can’t even hold a damn bat. He needs to be out first then we can worry about the self esteem lacking Shafiq
 
Think Younis Khan may have cracked the Asad Shafiq conundrum:


"What I learnt from Bob Woolmer as Coach was to understand how he dealt with a different persons like Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf, or how he dealt with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq in the same team; the team also had characters like Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi who needed attention as did the likes of Kamran Akmal; So in the same way I am watching Asad Shafiq to see what is stopping him from performing in his batting"
 
MenInG said:
Think Younis Khan may have cracked the Asad Shafiq conundrum:


"What I learnt from Bob Woolmer as Coach was to understand how he dealt with a different persons like Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf, or how he dealt with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq in the same team; the team also had characters like Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi who needed attention as did the likes of Kamran Akmal; So in the same way I am watching Asad Shafiq to see what is stopping him from performing in his batting"
Click to expand...

Bit unfair to expect them to take responsibility as they are both well past it. But what is interesting, YK knows Shafiq hasn't performed to expectations so why is he picked match after match after match?
 
Kroll said:
Bit unfair to expect them to take responsibility as they are both well past it. But what is interesting, YK knows Shafiq hasn't performed to expectations so why is he picked match after match after match?
Click to expand...

Maybe hes trying to change his mind set and shafiq thinking and he proberly thinks he can sort out his problems
 
Babar is there as support so it's not entirely on the shoulders of Azhar and Asad. Also, even 30s and 40s from the rest of the top 7 should boost the confidence of Azhar and Asad.
 
Majid Khan said:
I remember in the late 80s and early 90s, when the ‘kids’ in the Pakistan top order would fail when batting , and Miandad and Saleem Malik used to go out to bat, it felt like the ‘men’ were out there now, and you had a reassurance they would deliver. This legacy carried on with Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Yousaf some years later, who again looked like men in comparison to the kids batting before them, and again they had a reassuring presence about them..and in the next era it was Younis Khan and Misbah up Haq taking on this role of senior batsmen.

The point is in all these eras, the senior batsmen for Pakistan looked like while they might have had their technical deficiencies even in some conditions, but they were exceptional when it came to handling pressure situations with their calmness and cool temperaments. They really looked like men who could show the kids how it is done at this level, just watch and learn.

Now we have Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq as the senior duo - decent batsmen but not quite the same aura and ability to handle pressure situations. There is no feeling of reassurance when they go out to bat with a youngster that they will show them how it is done at this level and in these difficult situations.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts. Time and again we'd be 30-2 but those senior batsmen in the past could always be trusted to rebuild the innings.

Now if Babar fails you know its game over.
 
Penny for the thoughts of Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel and Usman Salahuddin to sit on the bench for the last few years for these guys.

At the very least, if Azhar fails again in this series he has to go. Simple.
 
Updated numbers:

Screenshot_20200729-134911_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
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The amount of time and investment that has been put in these two, I dont think at this point of their career they can statistically justify that much.

Azhar was averaging in high 40s once in his career and had some decent achievements under his belt but Pak wanted a lot more post MisYou and his average went down to early 40s along with his overseas performances going straight down. One of the biggest downfalls we have seen in recent times. Still there are atleast some performances which are memorable from Azhar however, Asad never really fulfilled the promise and expectations other than few knocks, his highest score of 130 odd and average under 40 after so many matches is just poor.

The only thing they can do and the fans willl also happily accept is to help Pakistan achieve couple of series wins in SENA and dont let the team down in home seasons before their retirement.
 
Azhar will be a walking wicket in this series, hes been shockingly bad outside of Asia for last few years.

Asad will get his usual token 50 in losing cause.
 
Majid Khan said:
I remember in the late 80s and early 90s, when the ‘kids’ in the Pakistan top order would fail when batting , and Miandad and Saleem Malik used to go out to bat, it felt like the ‘men’ were out there now, and you had a reassurance they would deliver. This legacy carried on with Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Yousaf some years later, who again looked like men in comparison to the kids batting before them, and again they had a reassuring presence about them..and in the next era it was Younis Khan and Misbah up Haq taking on this role of senior batsmen.

The point is in all these eras, the senior batsmen for Pakistan looked like while they might have had their technical deficiencies even in some conditions, but they were exceptional when it came to handling pressure situations with their calmness and cool temperaments. They really looked like men who could show the kids how it is done at this level, just watch and learn.

Now we have Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq as the senior duo - decent batsmen but not quite the same aura and ability to handle pressure situations. There is no feeling of reassurance when they go out to bat with a youngster that they will show them how it is done at this level and in these difficult situations.
Click to expand...

POTW. couldn't agree more. one such example was the bottled up chase by Azhar playing with tail where all he needed was hit one or two boundaries and get the game across the line. seemed like we had tail enders on both ends with not much confidence.
 
Even at the best of times, Azhar and Asad we only slightly above average batsmen. They were never all that great, and now they're in the twilights of their careers and performances have dropped as expected.

The better question is, when will selectors take responsibility and stop selecting these two.
 
Just 5 days to go - Both these stalwarts need to stand up and be counted!
 
We're at a point with these two players where expectation's are low and there away form doesn't justify any support. Both men in there mid 30's and are the expected to carry the stalwarts of yester years of MisYou, Yousuf and Inzi and many other greats as mentioned above.

This tour has come at the most difficult time as Covid-19 still causing UK grief. Despite this special measures have been taken and procedures have been provided.

There is no reason for these guys to not perform, they are athletes and are being honour to represent Pakistan in the highest regard. This tour will determine whether this is a curtain call for these two or still facilitation of these two batsmans.

From previous tours and insightful stats there proof is, they will fail again and should leave the game with the upmost respect and gratitude with everything they have received and achieved.
 
Misbah at a presser:

“Also based on their past performances especially in 2016, Azhar and Asad’s contributions will also be important; Also Abid Ali and Shan Masood have done well recently in the past 2 series and that confidence will be required in such conditions and in such a difficult series; Our batting is looking confident, based on their wins in the past 2 series so we are hopeful that we can continue with this”
 
Abdullah719 said:
Misbah at a presser:

“Also based on their past performances especially in 2016, Azhar and Asad’s contributions will also be important; Also Abid Ali and Shan Masood have done well recently in the past 2 series and that confidence will be required in such conditions and in such a difficult series; Our batting is looking confident, based on their wins in the past 2 series so we are hopeful that we can continue with this”
Click to expand...

Always living in the past! A brave Chief Selector would be saying:

“Sadly Azhar Ali is still showing the same technical problems that have affected him for the last two years, and he has not made the final twelve for the First Test.

Imam-ul-Haq will open with Abid Ali, and Shan Masood drops to Number 3 and will captain the side”.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Misbah at a presser:

“Also based on their past performances especially in 2016, Azhar and Asad’s contributions will also be important; Also Abid Ali and Shan Masood have done well recently in the past 2 series and that confidence will be required in such conditions and in such a difficult series; Our batting is looking confident, based on their wins in the past 2 series so we are hopeful that we can continue with this”
Click to expand...

Interesting that Misbah mentions these two performance from four years ago to justify selection for the present.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Misbah at a presser:

“Also based on their past performances especially in 2016, Azhar and Asad’s contributions will also be important; Also Abid Ali and Shan Masood have done well recently in the past 2 series and that confidence will be required in such conditions and in such a difficult series; Our batting is looking confident, based on their wins in the past 2 series so we are hopeful that we can continue with this”
Click to expand...
If Misbah is so swayed by 2016 batting records:

Pakistan batting averages:

1. Sami Aslam - aged 21- averaged 55.66
3. Azhar Ali - aged 31 - averaged 42.14

So obviously you pick the deteriorating 35 year old who even then wasn’t as good as the younger guy.

Obviously.
 
In 2016 in England:

Azhar Ali passed 50 in 1 innings out of 8 and scored 295 runs in 4 Tests.

Sami Aslam passed 50 in 2 innings out of 4 and scored 167 runs in 2 Tests.
 
Azhar and Asad are king of mediocrity in Pakistan cricket team. So many tests yet nothing to show up.
 
They are not good enough to take responsibility. This is what happens when defensive captain/management invests in wrong players.
 
First innings of the first Test:

Azhar 0 (6)
Asad 7 (22)
 
Normal service this And these are supposed to be the seniors to carry on the legacy of younis, inzy yousuf and co
 
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Misbah needs to understand not everyone can play within their limitations at such an advanced age for long periods, you need youth
 
shaz619 said:
Misbah needs to understand not everyone can play within their limitations at such an advanced age for long periods, you need youth
Click to expand...

He needs to be held accountable for playing his mates instead of picking players on merit.
 
never

both are trash and have been as they were back by misbah... and now he is the headcoach

they should be booted out this year
 
Don't Worry....

Asad Shafiq will score a century in the last innings of 3rd test match and will secure his place for the next test series. :genius
 
Always looking for a senior player to bail them out these two. Now they will do their best to hide behind Babar or any other player that steps up to take the game on.

They were born to be back up dancers tbf
 
Kaddy said:
Don't Worry....

Asad Shafiq will score a century in the last innings of 3rd test match and will secure his place for the next test series. :genius
Click to expand...

Doesn't even need that much. Probably a 30/40 will be enough to convince Misbah and co to keep him in :)
 
What is the actual point of playing Azhar and Asad? Both horribly out of form, contribute nothing with the bat and hardly the best role models for younger players with both having fairly mediocre careers!
 
MenInG said:
Asad - Lost in Space.

zp3G0WXdRVuTHEbBQyws_image%20-%202020-08-06T113852.403.jpg
Click to expand...

Thats a horrible technique to have in england Your giving slip catching practice

The last thing you should be doing is offering half a bat pushing outside off and playing at a ball you should be leaving alone

You think with all this experience now shafiq would know this and play a lot tighter
 
Azhar was good once upon a time but Shafiq has always been a mental midget. I have no idea what made the selectors think he was worth the massive investment they placed in him.

Fawad deserves his chance over Azhar and Saud Shakeel deserves to be given at least some of the opportunities that Shafiq has so he can be developed.
 
Zaz said:
Thats a horrible technique to have in england Your giving slip catching practice

The last thing you should be doing is offering half a bat pushing outside off and playing at a ball you should be leaving alone

You think with all this experience now shafiq would know this and play a lot tighter
Click to expand...

It has been 10 years and he gets out in the same way. Either nicking off to slip or playing around a straight one, though sometimes he clips it to midwicket instead.
 
hitthestump said:
Azhar was good once upon a time but Shafiq has always been a mental midget. I have no idea what made the selectors think he was worth the massive investment they placed in him.

Fawad deserves his chance over Azhar and Saud Shakeel deserves to be given at least some of the opportunities that Shafiq has so he can be developed.
Click to expand...

Shafiq has been picked and backed because

A) hes a good professional None controversial and keeps his head down

B) He possesses what some called a good pleasing technique
The fact he cant make runs with the technique doesnt seem to come into the equation
 
Azhar was actually half decent at his peak.. He looks like a lost cause now

Shafiq OTOH was never good enough to play test cricket. Thats always been my opinion of him.
 
I think both should retire soon. They both have been disappointing for quite a while now. They seem finished.
 
We have to wait atleast 3 years and Misbah loose his job otherwise these 2s along with Sohail, Imran, Wahab, Yasir ... will play another 4-5 years
 
Azhar is the only one who can potentially bounce back and get back to his best, personally feel he's better when he opens the batting. Asad is only in the team due to Umar Akmal being axed from the Test team way back in 2011 and they've persisted with him for this long as a result of our UAE record; he offers nothing else and reminds me of that one guy who has the least importance within a friendship group.
 
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