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How good is Azhar Ali?
- Thread starter Spikey
- Start date
Cricketismylife
U19 12th Man
I always considered him a good talent and stand by that. It shows what high regard I hold and held Azhar and Shafiq that I had both ahead of him before the England series. I think Pakistan have a lot to look forward to with this trio in the next 8-10 years.
Woodster
International Captain
Interesting what people make of Azhar Ali, and he currently doesn't appear to have that style to really catch the eye but after 24 Tests to be averaging 45 shows he's certainly been effective in the early part of his career. Always thought he was younger than what he is, don't know why but had the impression he was a real youngster when handed his debut, but he was 25.
From what I've witnessed so far, he's refreshing for this Pakistan side in so much as the discipline he shows when batting, he has demonstrated his capabilities of playing shots all round the wicket, but he doesn't get carried away and try too hard to catch the eye by playing a multitude of strokes in one innings. As people have already said in this thread, his patience is an undoubted strength of his, especially with the stroke makers all round him in the Pakistan line-up.
Already he has made two scores in excess of 150, and while they took plenty of time to reach, he didn't give it away, but so far his four tons have come on rather docile sub-continental wickets, I'm sure as his experience at this level and other conditions grows he will become a more accomplished batsman on trickier surfaces, judging by a decent looking technique that he has adopted.
A tough batsman to remove in the right conditions, but certainly still a work in progress outside his more comfortable conditions, but promising signs imo.
From what I've witnessed so far, he's refreshing for this Pakistan side in so much as the discipline he shows when batting, he has demonstrated his capabilities of playing shots all round the wicket, but he doesn't get carried away and try too hard to catch the eye by playing a multitude of strokes in one innings. As people have already said in this thread, his patience is an undoubted strength of his, especially with the stroke makers all round him in the Pakistan line-up.
Already he has made two scores in excess of 150, and while they took plenty of time to reach, he didn't give it away, but so far his four tons have come on rather docile sub-continental wickets, I'm sure as his experience at this level and other conditions grows he will become a more accomplished batsman on trickier surfaces, judging by a decent looking technique that he has adopted.
A tough batsman to remove in the right conditions, but certainly still a work in progress outside his more comfortable conditions, but promising signs imo.
Agree with all this but don't see opening the face as such a big issue. If anything he should be doing so more often - as long as he remains in control of the shot - as Pakistan's biggest challenge is how to improve their lamentable strike rate when batting. They're not winning test matches they should be winning as a result of the one-paced approach they've adopted which no doubt has been mandated from on high. As a result guys like Azhar and Shafiq are not expressing themselves properly. If you don't take calculated risks you won't maximise your rewards.
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Xuhaib
International Coach
Good to see some positive words on both Azhar and Asad. Asad goes even more under the radar then Azhar and imo he could be better then Azhar very possibly I see him as a replacement for Mo Yo. Can see both averaging mid 40's throughout their careers.
Regarding Umer I think he gets more stick then he deserves he averages mid 30's in his first 16 tests which is not all that bad when you consider he has just play one match in Asia and was also part of the team that was highly unstable (pre Misbah period). Most greats like Ponting and Kallis also has a similar inconsistent start to their career not saying he's the next Ponting but he has shown enough promise to be preserved, not forgetting he averages over 40 with the SR of 90 in odi's over the past year.
Regarding Umer I think he gets more stick then he deserves he averages mid 30's in his first 16 tests which is not all that bad when you consider he has just play one match in Asia and was also part of the team that was highly unstable (pre Misbah period). Most greats like Ponting and Kallis also has a similar inconsistent start to their career not saying he's the next Ponting but he has shown enough promise to be preserved, not forgetting he averages over 40 with the SR of 90 in odi's over the past year.
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Spark
Global Moderator
re: opening the face. On the decks he's played on for the most part to date it's fine, but on southern hemisphere pitches it could (repeat, could) land him in trouble, IMO.
Woodster
International Captain
I still think Umar Akmal will be the pick of the players mentioned providing he grows up and has a real look at his attitude. The talent he has is unbelievable from what I've seen and hopefully the more experience and exposure he gets at the highest level the more his match situation awareness will improve, which it clearly needs to.