I impose an attacking brand of cricket: Azhar Ali

Pakistan ODI captain says he ensured the philosophy of playing positively came from him

Pakistan ODI captain, Azhar Ali, made it clear that his method to success was playing positive cricket with an attacking mindset.

The 30-year-old said that he believes a captain needs to lead from the front to set an example.

"When I was appointed captain I wanted to impose an attacking brand of cricket and that meant that as captain I needed to ensure that the attacking philosophy came from me," said Azhar while talking to PakPassion.

"I demanded that all my players played positive cricket and as captain I needed to ensure that I also bought into that philosophy. All of the players have been given license to play positive cricket unless of course the situation demands for some stability and patience.

"I believe the captain has to set the tone for the team’s style of play and ensure that he is indeed leading from the front and ensuring that he is playing the way he wants his team to play, and not just talking about a brand of cricket and not playing that way himself."

Azhar further added that he took the opportunity of being recalled into the ODI side after being dropped for the 2015 World Cup to silence his critics.

"There hasn’t been a lot of support for my inclusion in the one-day side from the public or the media," said Azhar.

"I was averaging over forty in one-day cricket but still there wasn’t much support or mentions for my inclusion in the fifty over format after I was dropped.

"However, I had that ambition to prove people wrong and to show people that I am capable of performing well in limited overs cricket. I never gave up hope and just kept working hard and ensuring that when the call came I was ready."

Azhar, who is the fastest Pakistani and Asian to reach 1,000 ODI runs, said that being appointed captain presented him with a lot of challenges but his stint as skipper in domestic matches helped him a lot.

"I think as a captain you need to have the skill of handling pressure and that is something I feel I have learnt quickly in domestic cricket," explained Azhar.

"However, the reality is that when you are leading an international team it’s much tougher and the levels of pressure are intense and of course expectations are high.

"When I was appointed as captain there was double the amount of pressure on me as I was making a comeback to the One-Day team but in addition I was the new captain. Captaining Pakistan is a tough job whether you are a new captain or whether you are someone who has played international cricket for many years, but I’m pleased that so far things have gone quite well and the boys have really supported me."

Moreover, Azhar said that the fielding standards are improving because of the combined effort of the team.

On the ODI performance, Azhar said that the ranking do not lie and they did not play well in 2014.

When asked about how he felt about being groomed as the new Test captain, Azhar said: "I’ve played under Misbah’s captaincy now for five years and it’s been an excellent learning curve for me. I’m particularly impressed with Misbah’s calmness under pressure and that is something that I hope to emulate.

"I hope to continue to learn from him as long as he continues to play for Pakistan and I hope and pray that he does indeed continue to remain fit and play for Pakistan for as long as possible and to carry on captaining the team.

"When the time comes for Misbah to retire, I hope that I can take on the challenge of captaining Pakistan in Test cricket and do a good job for the team."