The Azhar Ali story

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - SAM DALLING: Only four men have more Test runs for Pakistan than Azhar. This is the tale of his winding career, from teenage wanderings in Scotland to mixed chances back home and his rise to the top

Azhar Ali starts chuckling again and unveils a Doric dialect lesson.

“I will say something and I challenge you to understand it, okay?” 

“Whit hings ur happening th' world,” he continues with a broad Scottish twang that makes the words virtually impossible to decipher. Silence, incorrect guesses and then more laughter. “What things are happening in this world - they pronounce the ‘R’ very loudly,” he explains, repeating ‘world’ with a protracted roll of the tongue. 

“That was the hardest bit when I first arrived. I couldn’t understand a word they said but after two years I would speak like them. I still do now when they call. It is funny as I couldn’t understand the English accent after that.”

Azhar is recalling with fondness several seasons spent at Huntly CC - approximately 40 miles west of Aberdeen - during his early career. Formerly known as Strathbogie, its now ruinous castle was gifted to the Gordon Clan by Robert the Bruce following the Battle of Bannockburn. It is home to just a few thousand and is about as diametrically opposite to the batsman’s home city of Lahore as a 19-year-old can get.

“I loved my time there,” he beams. “The mother of the club secretary saw me doing groceries one day, found out I cooked for myself and told her son to invite me to lunch the next day. I went and they asked if I would come every day: for the next six seasons I hardly cooked for myself! They basically adopted me like a son. I would sleep in my flat but would stay from lunchtime to dinnertime in their home. They are wonderful people and I will always feel like they are my family.”

Unbeknownst to Azhar at the time, it was the first tryst of a long-running love affair with the UK.

^{Azhar Ali has enjoyed a distinguished career with Pakistan}

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Only four men have more than Azhar’s 6,579 Test runs for Pakistan. He has passed 50 on 51 occasions, and converted 18 of those to hundreds. In his sights is Mohammad Yousuf, and with a fair wind he could make the less than 1,000-run deficit in the next 12 months. These are remarkable numbers by any measure, but even more so given the scarcity of top-order opportunities afforded to Azhar growing up.

In 2002 he made his first-class debut for Lahore Blue as a 16-year-old leg-spinner. He batted at No.9. The following year he appeared for Khan Research Laboratories where he was elevated to No.8, although he played just seven games in his first four seasons. He didn’t mind: it reflected what he was used to:

“In Pakistan there were no age-group teams so we had to play club cricket where I never got the opportunity to bat,” he says. “There was not enough confidence in me from the captains - they never used to have faith. That came quite late. If I played a tournament game, I would get a bat at nine, 10 or even 11 sometimes. This is when I was 15 or 16. When I was 17 or 18 I sometimes got a chance in the late order.

“I didn’t even get to bat in the nets much. I used to bowl, bowl, bowl when I was 13. But batting wise I would maybe get a couple of rounds early and then I would have to bowl all day. My father used to go early with me and make sure I had my throwdowns. I built confidence by practicing outside the nets.”

MOST TEST RUNS FOR PAKISTAN

10,009 - Younis Khan

8,832 - Javed Miandad

8,829 - Inzamam-ul-Haq

7,530 - Mohammad Yousuf

6,579 - Azhar Ali

Instead it was in the Highlands, a world away from home, that Azhar the batsman was born.

“I was 19 when I arrived and they asked me if I would open. I said ‘hip-hip-hooray, yes I will,’” he tells The Cricketer. “That is where I learned to bat long. When you are the professional you have a lot of responsibility and I used to bat almost the whole innings. 

“The wickets up there were very grassy and quite a lot of the time it would be damp. Even though the standard was quite low, I had time to bat and the Dukes ball swang a lot. That taught me how to play swing late.”

After a successful time in Scotland between 2004 and 2007, Azhar focussed on his domestic duties. In 2007-08 he scored 503 runs at 50.25, following that with 788 runs at 35. At the end of the 2008-09 season he made 99 and 25 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final. It was ultimately a losing cause but his runs ensured he toured Sri Lanka and Australia with Pakistan A in the off-season. In both countries he averaged above 40.

He returned to Huntly again in 2010 but his spell was cut short, a Test debut against Australia at Lord’s proving too tempting to turn down. He retained his place for the second Test and then again for the four match series against England.

His ODI debut came a year later in Ireland, and after that he returned to Huntly for a final hoorah. The giggling returns as he recalls struggling to adapt to the rigours of club cricket: “My timing was out - I was too early to the ball. I got dropped three times in the first innings as I just couldn’t time it. The ball was coming too slowly.”

^{Azhar celebrates a Test century}

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Since his first Test, the games Azhar has missed can be counted on one hand. He also has 53 white-ball caps, although officially retired from the format in 2019. In 31 of those games he was skipper, taking over from Misbah-ul-Haq following a disappointing 2015 World Cup despite not having played an ODI for two years.

A rocky period followed, with Pakistan slipping down the ODI rankings. They recovered to scrape into the 2017 Champions Trophy in England and Wales. By the time the tournament arrived, Azhar had relinquished the captaincy but retained his place as a batter. What unfolded during a fortnight or so that June remains the highlight of his career.

Pakistan were unfancied and made the worst possible start. Thrashed by India at Edgbaston – bundled out for 164 in a rain-affected chase of 289 runs – few would have given them much hope of progressing. Head coach Mickey Arthur was adamant, though, that his side could turn it around.

“It was a thumping defeat,” Azhar says. “But after that game Mickey told us we were still in the tournament and were here to win it. ‘Don’t worry about this game,’ he said. ‘It is gone. When we leave this room we will have a smile on our faces and be ready for the next game.’ We got together as a team and had a very good chat the next day where we spoke honestly with each other.”

South Africa, then the No.1 ODI side in the world, were next. The brilliance of Hasan Ali (3-24) and Imad Wasim (2-20) restricted the Proteas to 218 for 9 and, after a few showers, Pakistan won at a canter. It was, in Azhar’s mind, the catalyst.

“Our bowlers were fantastic,” he says. “We got them all out quite cheaply which was amazing. That got us going. When we chased those runs down the belief started.”

AZHAR ALI: INTERNATIONAL RECORD

Tests: 87 matches, 6,579 runs, average 43.28, 18 100s

ODIs: 53 matches, 1,845 runs, average 36.9, 3 100s

The final group game saw Sri Lanka despatched “after a few hiccups”, setting up a semi-final with the hosts in Cardiff. Eoin Morgan’s team were gearing up for their ultimately victorious 2019 World Cup campaign and were heavy favourites. Twelve months’ previously they had racked up a then world-record 444 for 3 against the Pakistanis at Trent Bridge.

But neither reputation nor partisan crowd fazed Pakistan. They were thriving on the underdog tag and had a plan. 

“Once we arrived in Cardiff we were sure that we could win the tournament. We had a strong belief that we would beat England. We had played them a lot in that couple of years so knew a lot about them. We chased down 300 when we played in Cardiff in 2016 and spoke about that before the game. We decided that, even on a fused pitch, we would opt to bowl. We felt that if we restricted them to 300 or under we would be able to chase.”

England were dismissed for 211, before Pakistan knocked off the runs two down, Azhar top scoring with 76.

Next came India.

“There was a feeling that India on paper was a better team,” Azhar remembers. “But our senior players got together and said that because we had lost so many games in ICC events before, it didn’t matter if we lost another one: what mattered was that we went out and played our game, which was positive and aggressive cricket.”

They did just that, posting 338 for 4 first up as Azhar (59) played second fiddle to Fakhar Zaman’s sublime 114. India stuttered to 158 all out. 

“We played an ‘A’ plus game from the first ball that day and India never got into it. For whoever was involved that day, I think it will be the best moment of their career,” Azhar says.

“Winning, with the final against India and being underdogs throughout the tournament was such an amazing feeling. I don’t think any other moment will overtake that in my career – although hopefully someone from that group will go on and win a World Cup.”

That leads to a question about regret.

Azhar has never, and in all likelihood will never, get the chance to play Test cricket against India. The 59th and to-date latest match between the two sides ended on December 12, 2007, events off the field keeping them apart. 

In 14 years there has been just one set of bilateral matches between the nations. 

“It is something I will miss,” he says. “There is a lot of emotion involved but that is what is beautiful about Pakistan v India games. Both countries want to win more than anything else, more so than against any other opponent. But the real beauty is that the rivalry is there but it is still a game of sport. I think it should stay like that: a game of cricket. If I don’t manage to play them in my Test career, that will be something that I will say should have happened.”

^{A young Azhar Ali is congratulated by Misbah-ul-Haq for an ODI performance in 2012}

***

Azhar’s relationship with the UK continued to blossom the following summer, this time in Somerset colours. He played 17 first-class games across 2018 and 2019, and was also instrumental in their 2019 Royal London One-Day Cup triumph (451 runs at 41, plus seven wickets).

It is obvious that the West Country has claimed a large slab of Azhar’s heart. He still regularly tweets about the club, and is in touch with many of the players. 

“It was a really enjoyable time. I made lots of very good friends and it is like a family there. The club is great and they are on a very good track. They have produced so many players now who are representing England which is great to see. 

“They have built a very good team culture and the fans are very close to the county. Even when the team has a bad patch they will still support you.”

***

Last year Azhar again returned to England, this time leading the Test side. His place was under scrutiny following a patch so lean it could make a greyhound look podgy. In 2018 he scored just 517 runs in 17 innings (average 30.41), and that was followed by 118 runs from 11 knocks (average 21.73) in 2019.

After England won the first Test comfortably, the discontent grew to a crescendo in Pakistan. The second Test was drawn but Ali had just 38 runs in three innings. There are those who say that, even on song, he is not easy on the eye. What followed though in his 15th Test on English soil was a knock that coupled class and dignity; his 141 not out acting as a willowy V in the faces of his critics. A battling 31 in the second innings helped secure a stalemate. The series was lost but pride was restored. Azhar was back.

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“I had a lean patch for a few months…well for 18 months,” he confesses. “I didn’t score consistently and was way below my standards. Finding that form and confidence in the last Test match was key for me. Once I had found the rhythm in Southampton, I was batting quite freely.

“Even in the second Test when I got out on 20-odd, I batted for something like an hour and a half. I felt very good most of the time and was middling the ball. Sometimes you don’t score runs but you find the rhythm and the feet move. But then it becomes mental: it doesn’t matter how well you play, if you don’t score runs the pressure stays on you.

“Since the first innings of the third Test every time I have gone out to bat I have felt good. If I get out early I don’t feel like it is the end of the world. It doesn’t matter - I will get runs in the next innings. If the rhythm is there, I am more confident and everything is good.”

And was there a moment when he felt things click?

“I think when I crossed 50 in Southampton – I was more fluent after that. I played a few shots off [James] Anderson through the covers and cut a few short balls. I felt my feet moving comfortably and I was hitting the bad balls to the boundary. A slight mistake from the bowler and I could punch them away for four.

“Gradually, gradually I grew in confidence. They had been targeting my pads and in the second innings there was a shot I hit off Chris Woakes. The commentator was saying the same thing I felt; I played with a straight bat and hit it hard through mid-on for four. It was a very commanding shot. That is the difference. You hit the same ball you were getting out to before to the boundary. That showed that a slight adjustment in technique can lead you to better form.”

^{Azhar captained his country in nine Test matches}

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By the time Azhar next played Test cricket – on Boxing Day last in New Zealand – he was under Babar Azam’s command. After just over a year, and following only eight matches (he also stood in as a one-off back in 2016), he had been stood down. True to character, he was unfazed and is enjoying the freedom.

“Leading the Pakistan team is never easy,” he says. “Every decision you make it under scrutiny. It doesn’t matter if it is right or wrong; it has to be justified by the result and by a successful outcome. 

“The captain has to do so many things before the Test match. The press conferences, picking the XI... all that wasn’t my responsibility any more. I still helped others as I always enjoy that but the burden went away. I focused on my batting and enjoying my off time.

“Handling the media is a job now, it is part of a Test match and someone has to do a presser after every day. But as captain you have to answer so many critical things. The media in this part of the world will ask minute things: ‘what happened with this? What happened to that player? Why is he not playing?’ 

“As a player the press conference is a lot softer!”

If the media scrutiny frustrated Azhar at times, it was not audible. A career in diplomacy awaits should he want it although he does feel players should be given more leeway. 

“I will give you an example,” he says. “When I leave cricket I will have so many things I can say from the outside. But sometimes in the middle there is something that those particular players know that the media don’t without the first-hand information. I feel that the benefit of the doubt should be given to the players there.

“Obviously the commentators or journalists are there to do their job but sometimes you can get frustrated; you have information that they don’t have and people make their opinions by listening to the commentators. That is okay – most of the time the positive criticism helps towards my game or captaincy but sometimes people can take it too far. That is okay. You have to absorb that as a senior player or a captain.”

***

Azhar turned 36 in February, his birthday doubling up as his wedding anniversary; “The more important one. It was 13 years ago – wait, hold on, hold on, I might be wrong…14 years,” he laughs.

He has no intention of retiring yet, and remains one of just four male players currently with A grade PCB contracts. The other trio - Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammed Rizwan - are all white-ball stars. Azhar continues to fly under the radar. He does not mind.

“I am very lucky. I am not like Shahid Afridi or Shoaib Akhtar. People recognise me but the good thing is they don’t run towards me! It is good to have your own space. I feel like I am not a very big star in Pakistan.

“I don’t get frustrated by it. People follow T20 a lot because it is more commercial and takes less time to watch. And that is why I think they get followed more. I like to do what I do, and try and do my best on the field. I don’t play for the records; if I can contribute enough for my team to win the games that is the most satisfying thing.

“I think I get more recognition when I speak to people in England, Australia etc because they like Test cricket a lot. They recognise Test performances more so I think I get more recognition there. In Pakistan there are people who like Test cricket and know it is the ultimate form – so they give the due credit to me. That is enough.”

^{The Azhar Ali story continues}

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The majority of Azhar’s Test career has come at first drop, where he averages 44.25 and has scored 14 hundreds. But he has been even more successful opening, where he averages 45.76, albeit from a much smaller sample size. He has not walked to the middle with a partner since November 2019 at Brisbane.

The spot has proved troublesome for Pakistan, 14 men having occupied the top two since 2016. When the whispers that he could finish his career as an opener are put to Azhar, the diplomat returns.

“You are putting me on the spot,” he grins. “I always bat where my team wants me to bat – wherever the management and captain want me to bat, I like to bat there. I always believe consistency is the key. Not only for me but for whoever is getting the chances.

“We take it very lightly openers will come and take their place but it takes years to build some confidence. You have to stick with them. I feel that giving openers a longer run is important. It is the most challenging job in Test matches. Sometimes you have to field for 140 overs and straight away go and bat when the other team is on top. Sometimes you lose the toss and bat in tough conditions on a grassy track. There will be ups and downs so you have to find the right combination and give them a longer run. Once we do that we will find a good opening pair.”

***

After he finishes playing Azhar hopes to have a life in front of the camera. His warm and gentle manner make him a natural, and he has dabbled in studio work during the PSL.

And he also wants to give back to Pakistani cricket, and realised a life-long ambition of opening his own academy at the end of last year.

“It has always been one of my wishes to do something at grassroots level in Lahore for Pakistan cricket. If I can do it all over Pakistan eventually that would be brilliant, but at least I have started. There is not enough structure or institutions at grass roots level. I used to have throwdowns and bowl at one stump – nothing more structured than that. If I can provide that opportunity for players at a young age – the knowledge and info on nutrition, fitness, psychology - that will help them in their careers.

“In Pakistan players get that information quite late so I want to give them that at an early age. I want them to also have the opportunity to enjoy good facilities and good coaching staff so that they don’t have to wait until they are picked for U19s, or U16s or at a higher level to get better. Pakistan will always have players with potential, but I think if they can get proper knowledge and coaching at the right age that they can be even better.”