Spare a thought for Azhar Ali

Named captain of the ODI team when he wasn’t even in the side, Azhar Ali is a force to reckon with. Whitewashed in his first series as captain against ‘minnows’ Bangladesh, Azhar has honoured the nation. Publicly told by his chairman he doesn’t have long left as captain despite winning his last series 3-0, Pakistan must indeed spare a thought for Azhar Ali. Perhaps most of all, spare a thought for Azhar Ali; forever judged upon the greatness of captains gone by.

His recent comments about Pakistan just focusing on being in the top eight have raised many eyebrows. This is the captain of a proud Pakistan side, World Cup winner and producer of some of cricket’s finest-ever players. Their aim should not be to cling onto the eighth spot. Brash aggressiveness has been replaced by meek fear, assured arrogance by self-doubt, fearsome pacers by a toothless attack. Azhar was right to highlight the mediocrity that prevails within the ranks; it is what he has to work with, number eight is the height of our ambitions right now because that is where we belong. In such circumstances, Azhar’s comments make sense. This is a captain realising the limitations of his team and aiming to achieve the short-term goal he was brought in to achieve.

Whether they should have opted for someone younger and more adventurous, someone like Sarfraz Ahmed, is another debate altogether. Where the fingers of blame should point for bringing Pakistan to this point is also another debate altogether. The harsh reality is that we are here. Settling for the bare minimum might seem like accepting defeat but it is more akin to accepting the facts; ODI cricket has moved on and it has left Pakistan behind, in the doldrums of fighting for eighth spot. Faced against the Australians whom Pakistan haven’t defeated in 15 years, keeping that eighth spot is Azhar’s biggest priority. So spare a thought for Azhar Ali, and spare a thought for mediocrity.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.