What's eating Pakistani skipper Azhar Ali ahead of ODI Series

What’s eating Pakistani skipper Azhar Ali ahead of ODI Series: Pakistan may be the happiest nation right now in the cricket world after seeing their team ranked World’s second-best in the longest format of the game while they are already enjoying the same view in the T20I rankings but the 50-over format isn’t where they had any substantial success in the recent past. Before Zimbabwe toured Pakistan for the country’s first home international game in five years, they had lost 5 consecutive series since December 2013, lost an Asia Cup final and were ousted in the quarter-final of the 50-over world cup. After Misbah-ul-Haq retired from ODIs, Azhar Ali – the new captain has brought somewhat calamity to the team. They have won all three of their last ODI series, two against Zimbabwe though. But the best thing was to beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka with a fairly young team and a returning Shoaib Malik.

England series is another test for the young shoulders of Azhar Ali. The team is in building phase with new youngsters pouring in and claiming their shot at international glory. Giving them equal and fair opportunities isn’t the only thing What’s Eating Azhar Ali? He must grind the fore-mentioned apples to win the guff against England.

1. Accommodating Younis Khan in the Final XI

All was well for Azhar Ali and a young-rising Pakistan side until one day Younis Khan felt the urge to try his hands at ODIs once again. A veteran of 15 years in international cricket and over 260 ODIs, Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in tests hasn’t had any substantial success in the limited overs format for over two years now. He had scored more than 12 in only 3 of his last 11 innings in the format, one of them being his 7^th ODI century before he was dropped after the world cup.

Younis back in the squad means that he will play in the final XI for the first two ODIs atleast and Azhar Ali and the team management must ponder on his position and role in the side. It seems very likely that Younis Khan will bat at no. 4 followed by Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed. In a 16-man squad, this means that Pakistan will now have to choose one from Babar Azam, Anwar Ali, Aamer Yamin, Zafar Gohar and Bilal Asif and two from Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Irfan.

2. The all-rounder tussle

For four and a half years, Pakistan didn’t really have any such problem mainly because of Shahid Afridi in the team and Mohammad Hafeez who bowled tidy off-spins. But with Afridi gone and Hafeez not allowed to bowl, there has to be someone who must be a dual-weapon, one who could add valuable runs and bowl tidy spells too. Shoaib Malik has stood out a valuable candidate for this position but Pakistan still need another such option to strengthen the lower middle-order. Anwar Ali will be the preferred candidate but Aamer Yamin and Bilal Asif made strong cases for themselves too when Anwar had to miss the Zimbabwe tour because of an injury. Zafar Gohar, the left-arm spinner and a handy batsman down the order has also performed at the U19 level to claim his spot. It will be a tough decision for the management to choose one from: Anwar Ali, Aamer Yamin, Bilal Asif and Zafar Gohar.

3. Go for spinners or the faster bowlers

Spinners have always been Pakistan’s line of attack in the desert. But again, the retirement of Afridi and the suspension of Hafeez have left them with very little options. Yasir Shah has shown his class on the test field but he is quite young for the ODIs, 12 matches old. Of the 299 wickets Pakistan has taken in UAE since making it its adopted home in 2009, the pace bowlers took 125 wickets while the spinners got 174 wickets. This 42%-58% ratio of wickets has been the driving factor for previous Pakistan captains to attack with the spinners. This series, however, will be the first for Azhar Ali in UAE and it will be nice to see if he opts to attack from the spinners or pacers. The choice of all-rounder will also determine his line of attack.

4. The record-low ranking

Pakistan and PCB may have somehow managed to avoid the knock-out scare for the Champions Trophy 2017 but in the coming years, Pakistan has another deadline to beat. Pakistan is currently ranked no. 8 in ICC ODI Rankings with 88 points. The hosts England and seven other top-ranked sides as on 30 September 2017 will directly qualify for the World Cup in 2019. The remaining test nations will play a qualifying tournament along with associate nations for the remaining two spots.

Even a 4-0 win result cannot promote Pakistan in the rankings but it will surely decrease the difference between them and no. 7 ranked Bangladesh. Pakistan does not have much ODIs scheduled until mid 2016 because of the focus shifted to World T20 2016. Only seven ODIs in total including these four against England, Pakistan will have to wait until August 2016 to play regular ODIs. This means 10 months from the cut-off date wasted without proper amount of ODIs.

5. The pinch hitter

Pakistan had Shahid Afridi to use as a pinch-hitter but ever since his retirement this role hasn’t been filled in by a proper single batsman. Saad Nasim, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan and Sarfraz Ahmed have been used at no. 7 for this purpose but they all lacked the power and ability to score big hits. Saad Nasim gone and lost and Imad Wasim injured, it means that Mohammad Rizwan will likely be tried at no. 7 but he has been performing well at no. 6. Sarfraz Ahmed is another candidate and he has indeed spent two-fifth of his ODI career at 7 or lower. Whoever bats at no. 6, 7 or 8; Pakistan needs runs from them and need them quick.

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