With Azhar Ali dropped for the Galle Test, Aadya Sharma wonders if there’s life remaining in his Test career.
When Babar Azam made his Test debut against West Indies – nearly six years ago – Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson were still in the top 10 of the ICC Test batting ranking. Younis Khan was the only Pakistan batter on the list. By the end of the Test in Dubai though, it was Azhar Ali walking away with plaudits, having compiled an epic 302 against the pink ball. By the end of the year, Azhar had replaced Younis in the top ten.
Six seasons on, Babar is the sole Pakistan batter in the top ten. The dynasty seems to have switched hands. Azhar Ali is now 37, having slipped to 24th on the list. In the second Test, against Sri Lanka at Galle, he was benched, signalling what could be a decisive shift in Pakistan’s Test team going forward.
It doesn’t seem too long ago that Azhar was Pakistan’s man for a crisis. When Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked from the captaincy in October 2019, it seemed only right that the honour went to Azhar, unflappable under stress, and an inspiring presence within the set-up. Most importantly, he piled on the big runs and was comfortable in his own skin, using attrition not aggression to become one of his era’s finest run-makers in Tests.
In nine out of the 13 calendar years between 2010 and 2022, Azhar averaged over 40, and has scored at least one century every year since 2014. The high arguably came between 2014 and 2017 – across those four years, he averaged 54.42 with ten centuries. Only six batters across the world managed more runs, and there was a quality crop of batters at that time. It was a crucial period for Pakistan, with Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan retiring in quick succession, but Azhar softened the blow of their dual retirements.
By the end of 2018, though, Azhar had slowed down a tad. The runs weren’t coming with the same consistency, and some of the younger players had come in and created an impact. He was still a dependable batting figure, moving down to No.3 as a host of opening options sprung up. From December 2018 to December 2019, Azhar went 13 innings without a fifty – a run that included nine single digit scores.
But by mid-2020, he was back to being one of Pakistan’s batting pillars. The pandemic had hit the game hard, and under a new captain, the trip to England would have seemed daunting. Azhar, himself short on runs, stood up to the challenge, cracking a valiant century to help draw the Southampton Test. It put an end to two-year-long dry patch. It looked like Azhar – new technique and all – had resurrected himself.
Two years on, Azhar stands at the crossroads once more. A lean patch is upon him again – probably not as grave as it was before – but the set-up has changed, and he isn’t their leading man. Since the start of 2019, Babar Azam has scored the most runs for Pakistan, scoring two centuries and nine fifties more than Azhar in two fewer innings. The openers are coming together nicely – Abdullah Shafique – by the looks of it, is ready for the long haul. There’s Mohammad Rizwan doing his bit, with space for another younger option in the top five.
The axing in Galle might not necessarily be a reflection of Azhar’s poor form – only four months ago, he struck 185 against Australia (only three times has a higher score being hit by a Pakistan batter against Australia this century), and he averages 44.14 this year.
A time has to come when Pakistan look past Azhar – it might even be upon us already. If it’s purely to do with his age, then it’s important to remember that Misbah and Younis both excelled in their late thirties and in Misbah’s case, his early forties. The batter included in the side at his expense – Fawad Alam – is just a year younger to him. It would, though, be a bold call to move past Azhar. It won’t be an easy transition: Azhar spent years building an empire, being a venerable, dependable asset in a line-up historically known to be inconsistent. At No.3, Azhar has scored more runs than any Pakistan batter, and it’s also the position where Babar batted in Galle in his absence, and averages a poor 28.93, compared to his career number of 47.3.
Just like 2020, a return to form cannot be ruled out, but the chances are slimmer now. Pakistan might well decide to move on, but it will be a hard task following in his legacy.
