Azhar Ali and his shot at redemption 

A few days ago, under uncharacteristic blue skies in Manchester, Pakistan, akin to the overhead conditions, seemed to have dispelled the murkiness that had surrounded the side prior to the Test at Old Trafford.

In fact, despite boasting a stunning bowling attack, several looked skeptically at the visitors’ batting line up, meaning that a rampant English bowling line-up was touted to rip through Pakistan.

Yet, over the first few days, the Asian outfit reined in their usually impatient batting demeanour and sprinkled it with a touch of graft. Consequently, as the Test entered its second half, Pakistan found themselves in the driving seat, considering the 107-run first innings lead they had at their disposal.

However, over the course of the next few hours, Pakistan produced another rendition of their infamous batting collapses, handing England a lifeline in the process.

To put things into perspective, Pakistan were 20/2 at Tea on Day 3 and still harboured aspirations of batting the hosts out of the game, with skipper Azhar Ali at the crease.

Unfortunately, though, in consonance with what has transpired over the past couple of years, Azhar Ali failed to conjure an innings of note, thereby casting his side and indeed, his own future under one of those dreary Mancunian clouds.

More worryingly, Azhar Ali, courtesy his departure in the second essay, shed light on a pattern of dismissal that has reared its head too often recently – something that has, at times, even portrayed a certain stubbornness to learn from mistakes.

Azhar Ali has been bowled or dismissed LBW way too often

Azhar Ali, in sync with countless sub-continental batsmen, has a proclivity to favour the on-side – a trait that has led to him transferring his weight onto the front foot a tad more than what is considered ideal.

Subsequently, it has meant that the batsman has fallen over to the off side and has had to play around his front pad, whenever trying to access the ball.

In turn, that has allowed bowlers to target his pads and on occasions, his stumps. The aforementioned ploy has paid rich dividends with Azhar Ali getting bowled (24 times) and LBW (26 times) more regularly than what would be expected of a high-class top-order batsman.

Unsurprisingly, that percentage goes a notch higher when talking about Azhar Ali’s mode of dismissals in SENA countries – which have traditionally been places that aid seam movement.

As far as numbers go, he has gotten out bowled on 6 occasions in these nations while has been dismissed LBW 14 times, a tally made even more drastic considering he has been dismissed 48 times in SENA countries.

If one does the math, the percentage comes out to be around 41.6%, which is pretty alarming, especially when talking about a batsman who was once proclaimed as Pakistan’s soundest willow-wielder.

Azhar Ali's propensity to get bowled or LBW increases in SENA countries

Against England at Old Trafford, the hosts’ fast bowlers and in particular, Chris Woakes, set up the Pakistan skipper expertly. They dragged him across the crease by bowling in the corridor outside off stump before getting one to jag back into Azhar Ali.

Inevitably, Azhar Ali, due to his over-balancing tendencies, went too far across off stump with his head before failing to make contact with the ball. On both occasions, the deliveries thudded into the pads and became the final nail in his coffin.

The flip side to that could be that the right-hander has stayed a shade leg-side of such deliveries, meaning that he has gotten caught behind on numerous occasions too.

Unfortunately for Azhar Ali, his problems go much deeper than just his batting ailments.

Azhar Ali is also the skipper of the Pakistan Test team and has a job that is perhaps in the higher echelons in terms of the scrutiny faced, second only to the Indian captaincy.

And, his charges also succumbed against England when the adversity was amped up, much like he wilted under the minutest bits of pressure at Old Trafford.

More discouragingly though, Pakistan, despite seemingly being in the ascendancy, were content to bide their time and wait for things to happen, rather than doing so of their own accord.

Wasim Akram hinted that Pakistan should have been more aggressive in Manchester (Credits: Cricket Pakistan)

In fact, that particular point was raised by Wasim Akram post the contest, wherein the former fast bowler opined that Pakistan needed to be aggressive and should have dug deeper into their repertoire of unpredictable but mesmerizing tricks.

Thus, Azhar Ali – the captain, seems to be under as much strife as Azhar Ali – the batsman.

To put things into perspective, the previous skipper, Sarfaraz Ahmed had enjoyed a slightly better run with the willow before being given the boot in the aftermath of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Azhar Ali has scored only 2 centuries since the start of 2018

The wicket-keeper batsman had managed 4 half centuries in his last 11 Test appearances, since the start of 2018. Azhar Ali, on the other hand, has compiled a grand total of 6 fifty-plus scores, including 2 hundreds, in 17 games during that same period.

Thus, if batting form were to be used as a yardstick, Azhar Ali has been trying extremely hard to get himself cast under the microscope. And, that scanner magnifies exponentially when speaking about a batsman that bats at No.3 and is expected to set the tone for his side, unlike Sarfaraz Ahmed who often played the role of a counter puncher.

And, inevitably, the lack of runs and the subsequent indecisiveness seem to have crept into Azhar Ali’s captaincy as well.

At times against England in the 1st Test, Pakistan had opportunities to slit the Three Lions’ throat. Yet, they took their foot off, meaning that the hosts were allowed an avenue to turn the tables and knock the visitors out.

Azhar Ali was left ruing his side's inability to close out the match

More ironically though, Pakistan, who ultimately handed Azhar Ali the reins to rid themselves of Sarfaraz Ahmed’s erratic brand of captaincy, might perhaps be ruing the former’s flagrantly calculative style.

Either way, one reckons that Azhar Ali might not have too much time to redeem himself, especially after having withered a seemingly certain victory at Old Trafford.

Even during the best of times, the Pakistan faithful can be termed anything but a patient bunch. And, one feels that that defeat in Manchester might just have fueled the fire to chop and change captains again.

As far as Azhar Ali’s batting future is concerned, he requires runs and he needs them pretty quickly. In fact, as long the willow keeps drying up and the pads keep coming in the way, he would continue stumbling, on both counts.

And, as has been proven recently, Azhar Ali – the captain will keep suffering until Azhar Ali – the batsman can find his mojo.

After everything that has happened though, he could still be Pakistan’s saviour on a tour that is threatening to go pear-shaped. And, that would align with the unpredictability quotient demanded, wouldn’t it?