Criticized for the national team’s 0-1 defeat and poor form in the Test series against England, captain Azhar Ali has said that despite the criticism, he never thought of leaving the Test team leadership.
The national team dominated most of the first match of the series against England in Manchester but Pakistan lost the match by 3 wickets due to a memorable 139-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Jose Butler and Chris Vokes.
The hosts’ victory was decisive in the series as the remaining two matches of the series played in Southampton were drawn due to rain and England won the series 0-1.
Critics of the first Test defeat included former national team captain Wasim Akram, who believed that Azhar Ali’s poor leadership and excessive defensive tactics led to Jose Butler and Vokes playing big innings in Manchester and He managed to lead his team to victory.
When Azhar Ali was asked about leaving the leadership in an online press conference, he said that it was a difficult time when we lost the first Test match and everyone blamed me alone for the defeat.
“It wasn’t an easy time, but I just focused on how we could change the course of the series with my individual performance and team performance. It never occurred to me to leave the leadership,” he said.
After playing average innings of zero, 18 and 20 in the first two Tests, Azhar Ali managed to score an unbeaten 141 in the third Test, but despite this innings, Pakistan could not escape the follow-on.
“We had to bear the brunt of the defeat in the first Test match. If we had won that Test match, we would have been sitting here as the winners of the series,” Azhar said.
“This disappointment will continue because we missed a rare opportunity and the credit goes to England who played well under pressure,” he said.
Following the end of the Test series, the two teams will now compete in a three-match T20 series from Friday