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Azhar Ali as Captain?

Xuhaib

International Coach
Seems it is all but confirmed Azhar ill take over from Misbah as the ODI skipper and then at the end of the year if he handles the job well he takes over from Misbah as the test leader aswell.

The general talk among Pakistan cricket circles is Azhar is almost a Misbah clone in not only his batting but general personalty as well and the board is very keen in continuing the stability that Misbah has brought over the last 5 years.

Over all I have been satisfied at how Misbah has gone about his job sure then team is not brimming with exciting talent as once it use to but the result especially in UAE (tests) where we get to play 60% of our cricket have been exceptional. If I was to be an adviser to Azhar this is what I would suggest to him.

I would not want him to tinker to much with the Misbah philosphy which I am sure he will not however there are couple of areas where adjustments should be made.

Induction of atleast one dynamic batsman most of Pakistan top 6 bat at the same pace so there is a need of a dynamic batsman in the middle that can break the monotony though brain dead Umer Akmal should not be the answer. Also try to fit couple of lefties in the top 6 Haris Sohail is a lefty looks like a good talent and could be the replacement for Misbah.

Pakistan spinners have done really well in recent times but pace bowling should never take a back seat for Pakistan we produce enough pace bowling talent that a 2nd choice pace attack was among the better bowling attacks in this world cup. Yes Misbah choice was limited as he inherited a team that lost its 2 best pace bowlers in one go and then Umer Gul knees were done by 2012 his 2 next pace bowlers Junaid and irfan also turned out to be highly injury prone however a lot of good fast bowlers were being neglected in his era and at times he opened the attack with Mohammad hafeez.

Not afraid to prepare more pacy tracks in UAE this will bring the Pakistani pacers bowlers in to play snd also prepare batsman when they play overseas. Maybe they can balance it out by having slow low tracks for tests while more pacer friendly tracks in odi's .Pakistan odi record in UAE is already very poor so no harm in changing the current formula.

I like Azhar as a cricketer and i hope he leads Pakistan with the same dignity as Misbah has done since the spot fixing episode.
 
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AndyZaltzHair

Hall of Fame Member
Azhar is receiving unnecessay criticism from some general Pakistan fans and media. The topic is how does a player get captaincy after not being part of odi side for a long time. It's a classic case of choose the captain from the first choice team sheet vs insert the captain in the team sheet. The board must have immense faith on Azhar to hand over the leadership. I read Azhar has been pretty successful in captaining his domestic side(?) Waqar and Misbah both recommended him along with some other former cricketers. They must have seen something in him. Collectively they can't go wrong. What were the options though? Seniors like YK, Hafeez are definite no for me, maqsood and akmal just need to focus on their own batting and improve, wahab riaz although a great team man and hard working, I have doubt that he's captaincy material. So basically Azhar is a good choice imo. Hope he comes good.
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
I like how Pakistan cricket has been moving ahead, trying to make wise, longer term decisions. This has been a big change in their cricket in the last few years and I hope they keep moving ahead this way.
 

Xuhaib

International Coach
Azhar is receiving unnecessay criticism from some general Pakistan fans and media. The topic is how does a player get captaincy after not being part of odi side for a long time. It's a classic case of choose the captain from the first choice team sheet vs insert the captain in the team sheet. The board must have immense faith on Azhar to hand over the leadership. I read Azhar has been pretty successful in captaining his domestic side(?) Waqar and Misbah both recommended him along with some other former cricketers. They must have seen something in him. Collectively they can't go wrong. What were the options though? Seniors like YK, Hafeez are definite no for me, maqsood and akmal just need to focus on their own batting and improve, wahab riaz although a great team man and hard working, I have doubt that he's captaincy material. So basically Azhar is a good choice imo. Hope he comes good.
misbah had a lot of haters and azhar appointment shows look like the Misbah brand of cricket wil continue hence the backlash this appointment is getting.
 
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AndyZaltzHair

Hall of Fame Member
I dont actually know what most of the criticisms are actually based on tbh. Maybe misbah's tuk tuk, backed up dead weights like Yunus Khan, failed to build a strong side etc etc. But what he could have done? Let's think it honestly. He lost cruical players at wrong times, his wanna be guns ala shehzad and akmal did not fire, players got injured etc. I did not see too many errors in his captaincy on the field like positioning or rotating. Cant really tell about managing players though or bringing out the best from them. Yes he lacked quality in some regards but we have seen far worse captains. It's harsh on him. Waqar mentioned in a press confo, talents are drying out like sahara.

At this point it's a guessing game with Azhar that the whole thing might be misbah esque again. At least give this guy a chance. Also a point to be noted, he cant change the face of Pakistan cricket overnight. He will probably get new faces to work with on. It will take time to fill the void of Misbah or even Afridi. Im guessing Azhar is in a danger of facing knee jerk reactions if things dont go well in the next two series and the pressure on him is huge even before stepping on the big stage with captain written beside his name
 
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Niall

International Coach
Azhar will have to improve strike rotation or will Shezhad or ideally both, as them opening chasing a score in today's ODI cricket, eh no thanks.
 

Xuhaib

International Coach
apparently Ahmed Shehzad is favouriting all anti Azhar Ali tweets next few months will be fun.
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
With Steven Smith and Azhar Ali in the ascendency, this truly is the era of the chubby cricketers.




Suresh Raina liked this post
 

Agent Nationaux

International Coach
Big Nas @NasirJamshed_ · Mar 30
I text Azhar "How it feel to be new captain?". He say "Like becoming father but still having virgin state. So very happy & more surprise".
 

Agent Nationaux

International Coach
Big Nas @NasirJamshed_ · Mar 30
When Misbah named ODI captain many people lift their eyebrows. Now Azhar named ODI captain & people lift hands & slapping on their chest.
 

cnerd123

likes this
Strange appointment.

Surely if he was next in line to be captain for a while now, they'd have him around the ODI setup wouldn't they? Even if not in the XI, as a part of the squad?
 

Niall

International Coach
Strange appointment.

Surely if he was next in line to be captain for a while now, they'd have him around the ODI setup wouldn't they? Even if not in the XI, as a part of the squad?
It is Pakistan, don't expect to much rational thinking from the powers in charge.:laugh:
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
It's pretty interesting how with certain players giving them the captaincy gives them more responsibility when it comes to batting. There's a huge expectation that comes along with it and you just do not want to let people down.
 

OverratedSanity

Request Your Custom Title Now!
It's pretty interesting how with certain players giving them the captaincy gives them more responsibility when it comes to batting. There's a huge expectation that comes along with it and you just do not want to let people down.
Yeah for all the times we say a youngster shouldn't be thrust the captaincy fearing it'll affect their batting, so often it ends up doing the opposite and he becomes more responsible and compact as a batsman.
 

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