Firebreaker
Banned
Any poster who uses other cricket forum knows me well
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Is Azhar Ali a selfish player?
- Thread starter Firebreaker
- Start date
SillyCowCorner1
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^^ what's the name of the other forum?
What does it start and end with?
What does it start and end with?
Firebreaker
Banned
It was the same on Pakpassion
Agent Nationaux
International Coach
Says it all really
Agent Nationaux
International Coach
Correction....he also used to claim root wasn't good, despite having the username rootfan.
tobe_ornot2
Banned
Azhar Ali is immensely important to Pakistan's opening, simply because they have not had a batsman who can bat as well in that position in a long, long time. I have high hopes for a Sami Aslam come back at some point this year and I feel Ali should probably move back to no. 3. In terms of Ali the match winner, he has 8 (out of a total 14) test centuries in a winning cause, 3 of them in his second innings. He also averages a full ten runs over his career average in won matches and strikes at 45 rather than 41.
14 of the tests Ali has won have come while batting second and that's where we start seeing the problem. Ali often gets stuck in a one paced struggle, unable to hit out and unable to rotate the strike. His average thus falls all the way down to 39 and he has only had 2 scores of above 50 in his last 5 tests while having to bat second. So, is Ali a match winner? Not on the same level as Khan or Misbah or Inzy. Is he good at playing a game beyond the basics of blunting a bowling attack? No. Is that why we will not see him mentioned alongside Kohli, Smith, Root and Williamson? Yes. Does that make him a bad test batsman? No, certainly not. He is probably the best test opener out there at the moment and one of the best test bats since 2010.
14 of the tests Ali has won have come while batting second and that's where we start seeing the problem. Ali often gets stuck in a one paced struggle, unable to hit out and unable to rotate the strike. His average thus falls all the way down to 39 and he has only had 2 scores of above 50 in his last 5 tests while having to bat second. So, is Ali a match winner? Not on the same level as Khan or Misbah or Inzy. Is he good at playing a game beyond the basics of blunting a bowling attack? No. Is that why we will not see him mentioned alongside Kohli, Smith, Root and Williamson? Yes. Does that make him a bad test batsman? No, certainly not. He is probably the best test opener out there at the moment and one of the best test bats since 2010.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
I don't really care whether he is mentioned along side the Big 4. That is more a reflection of media coverage, hype and what most people watch, not necessarily an accurate measure of quality. He has performed better at a better average than Kohli and Root in the last 2 years. For me, a guy who averages 50 opening the batting mostly in foreign conditions in the last 6 months, including England and Australia, two of the most difficult conditions for an Asian batsman, and has scored a triple and a double in that time is a match winner.
Yes he has weaknesses rotating the strike and can get bogged down but every one has different weaknesses. Kohli struggles against spin, Root tends to throw it away quite often. In terms of run scoring consistency, only Smith and to an extent Williamson are head and shoulders ahead of him at this point. Pujara comes close.
The only thing that I would like him to work on now is his play against spin. In Pakistan's strong batting line up, he was probably the weakest against spin compared to YK, Misbah and Shafiq. I would like to see him emulate YK and Misbah in that regard - in their ability to milk spinners. If he is to become a run accumulator to Shafiq's stroke player, and since Pakistan are not really touring outside of Asia in the next 2 years, he has to learn how to milk the spinners, attack and dominate them to an extent and utilize them as his chief run scoring opportunity.
Pakistan's next series is likely against Sri Lanka this year. There is no YK/Misbah to take on Herath this time. He will have to do it.
Yes he has weaknesses rotating the strike and can get bogged down but every one has different weaknesses. Kohli struggles against spin, Root tends to throw it away quite often. In terms of run scoring consistency, only Smith and to an extent Williamson are head and shoulders ahead of him at this point. Pujara comes close.
The only thing that I would like him to work on now is his play against spin. In Pakistan's strong batting line up, he was probably the weakest against spin compared to YK, Misbah and Shafiq. I would like to see him emulate YK and Misbah in that regard - in their ability to milk spinners. If he is to become a run accumulator to Shafiq's stroke player, and since Pakistan are not really touring outside of Asia in the next 2 years, he has to learn how to milk the spinners, attack and dominate them to an extent and utilize them as his chief run scoring opportunity.
Pakistan's next series is likely against Sri Lanka this year. There is no YK/Misbah to take on Herath this time. He will have to do it.