Azhar Ali keen to go all out for a victory against England

David Clough 09:06 17/11/2015
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  • Change is needed: Azhar Ali.

    Azhar Ali is urging his Pakistan team to go on the offensive against England after their meek performance in Abu Dhabi.

    The hosts, who will be without injured leg-spinner Yasir Shah for the third one-day international in Sharjah, were unable to chase 283 for five on Friday as England took early wickets and constrained the run rate.

    Azhar insisted afterwards it was the Pakistan batsmen who were found wanting on the way to a 95-run defeat, even though many thought the target set by England was an exacting one. The captain himself was fifth out, with the total on 50, taking 45 balls for his 22.

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    He insists there will be no repeat, with the series level at 1-1 with two to play – starting Tuesday.

    Azhar said: “You can’t win if you play like that. We weren’t aggressive enough. You expect 280-plus on that wicket, and you back yourself to chase that. But we didn’t put pressure on their bowlers and were 19 after 10 overs.”

    He believes it was in that passage of play that Pakistan put themselves in an impossible position.

    “That was the main cause of the defeat, so we want to play a lot more positively here,” he said.

    “That is what you need in ODI cricket – we need to push on.”

    England put themselves on track for a commanding total at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, and easily picked off almost eight an over from Pakistan’s frontline leg-spinner Shah. He will not be back for more just yet either, as he is nursing a knee injury.

    Instead, Pakistan are expected to select uncapped slow left-armer Zafar Gohar – their second debutant in as many matches, following all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed last week.

    Pakistan have an unbeaten Test series record since switching their home base to UAE five years ago. They have been less successful in the 50-over format, including when losing 4-0 to England here in 2012.

    Azhar, who acknowledges they must improve, has also explained the reasons he has had to swap opening partners already in this series. Another switch is possible, should Pakistan replace Babar Azam with Ahmed Shehzad at the top of the order.

    “Our record in ODIs here in the UAE is not good and we want to change that,” he said. “Ideally, we want to have a set opening pair – but unfortunately in the last year or so, we’ve had a lot of injuries.

    “We also had problems with our all-rounders – first (Mohammad) Hafeez is not allowed to bowl (after his action was found to be illegal), and then Imad Wasim has an injury.

    “It’s created problems in picking the right combination. 

    “Under the new rules, with five fielders inside the circle, you need five proper bowlers.

    “If there is a weak link you can struggle to control the flow of runs.”

    “He is trying to balance the need for an effective bowling attack in the short term with the development of new batsmen coming through.

    “It can damage the combination of the team, and you have to sacrifice a player to have the best combination,” he said.

    “We want to give the maximum chance to the players we select – these young players need backing. They have talent – and once they blossom, they can serve the team long-term.”

    Meanwhile, Pakistan’s talented but controversial batsman Umar Akmal on Monday denied any wrongdoing in a party which led to his axing from the Twenty20 team for the three-match series against England later this month.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week said Umar was in contention for the 16-man squad but was dropped over an incident in Hyd-erabad in which he was alleged to have “misbehaved” with women at a party.

    The PCB also served a show cause notice to the 25-year-old batsman whose career has been chequered with disciplinary issues.

    Umar, younger brother of Kamran and Adnan Akmal who also played for Pakistan, responded to the PCB show cause notice. 

    “I attended a dinner party after being granted official permission by my team manager,” said Umar.

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