Azhar Ali's steady rise

Azhar can definitely come close to emulating the feats of his ‘hero’ and ‘inspiration’ Younus

From a leg-spinner to a batsman, Azhar Ali’s rise has been remarkable to say the least. The Lahore batsman was handed a Test cap on the back of stellar domestic cricket performances in 2010 at Lords — the home of cricket — and has graduated to become the top-order mainstay for the often brittle Pakistan batting line-up.

The 30-year old stamped his class on the Test leg of the Bangladesh tour by snaring the man-of-the-series award on the back of a stoic double century during the Mirpur win.

Azhar Ali was happy after being nominated the man of the match and man of the series award. PHOTO: AFP

Azhar’s 226 marathon gave further credence to his growing reputation of a stonewaller who can make the opposition toil long and hard.

Elevated to ODI captaincy in a format that isn’t suited to his obdurate batting style, the Bangladesh tour was a thorough examination of Azhar’s credentials and at least on the personal front, he can be mighty satisfied with his returns.

Returning the focus on Azhar’s career in the longest format, a dissection of his numbers provides a fascinating reading. In 41 Tests, he has tallied 3,185 runs at a healthy average of 44.23 runs per innings.



The right-hander has already posted eight hundreds, besides 19 half-centuries. The most attractive feature of his batting returns is his extremely impressive conversion rate after he finally broke the 100-run barrier.

Azhar took as many as 28 innings to attain his first Test hundred. In those 27 knocks, Azhar had scored at least a fifty no less than 10 times, but failed to convert even one into a hundred.

Azhar sweeps in second Test against Bangladesh. PHOTO: AFP

But after going past the century landmark for the first time in the 2011 Dubai Test against Sri Lanka, Azhar has been remarkably consistent. In 49 subsequent innings, he has posted seven more centuries including the Mirpur double.

Nine more fifties have been added to the tally, and the amazing feature is that out of sixteen 50-plus innings, seven have been converted into hundreds.

All eight of his hundreds have been scored from the number three spot. Azhar has justified his selection and position at the fulcrum of the batting order and has batted there no less than 69 times out of his 77 innings.



Misbahul Haq and the various coaching staffs over the years must also be lauded for banking on Azhar and giving him an extended run at the number of his choice. The age-old cricketing belief that the numbers of Test batsmen shouldn’t be tampered with unnecessarily surely gets more credence in Azhar’s case.

After the Bangladesh series, Pakistan next plays Sri Lanka in a gruelling three-match series in their own backyard. Nine out of Azhar’s 41 Tests have been played against the Islanders and his numbers are most impressive against them.

Azhar has scored 787 runs and posted four centuries at an average of 52.46 runs per innings. Against Australia last year, Azhar was one of the six Pakistan batsmen who scored centuries against the beleaguered Michael Clarke outfit.

While Misbah, Younus Khan and co were bashing the bowlers around, Azhar in his own business-like fashion scored back-to-back hundreds in the Abu Dhabi Test.

Azhar Ali plays towards the leg side. PHOTO: AFP

 

His second-innings century was the perfect foil for the all-guns blazing approach by Misbah, en-route to the world record equalling 56-ball century.

Another notable feature of Azhar’s Test batting is his second-innings record. In a total of 39 innings, Azhar has scored four hundreds, including the incredible match-winning ton against Sri Lanka in the record 302-run chase on the final day of the Test.



His 157 against England in Dubai, scored in the third Test of the historic 3-0 whitewash, is also an innings from the top drawer.

In the years ahead, Azhar is likely to be the linchpin of Pakistan’s batting line-up, especially once Younus and Misbah hang their gloves.

Azhar is also a favourite to replace Misbah as the Test captain and if he continues his prolific run-making ways, he can definitely come close to emulating the feats of his ‘hero’ and ‘inspiration’ Younus, who recorded his 29the Test century in Mirpur.