Azhar Ali delivered the perfect response to his critics with his third ODI century – the most by any Pakistan captain in 50-over cricket – to wrap up a 3-0 series whitewash of West Indies in Abu Dhabi.
The 31-year-old looked anything but a man under pressure as he calmly went about business in reaching his first ODI hundred since May 2015.
Not only that, the 136–run victory for Pakistan ensured they move above West Indies into eighth in the ICC World Rankings as the two scrap it out for automatic qualification at the 2019 World Cup.
He had called for patience in the build-up to the third and final ODI on Wednesday night as his poor form with the bat gave even more credence to those looking for Azhar to step aside as captain.
And he duly delivered with a considered century that would generally put pay to the cynics in any other relationship that wasn’t so toxic.
There are parallels to England’s perception of Nasser Hussain 14 years ago.
Azhar reached three figures in animated celebration that bore hallmarks of Hussain’s infamous gesture to the Lord’s press box in the 2002 NatWest Series final.
Like Azhar has been, Hussain was derided by the media for both his style and record.
There was not the same signal and the swearing was absent, but the emotion was plain for all to see.
It looked as though a weight had been lifted from Azhar’s shoulders but it is safe to say he has a long way to go in order to convince the naysayers of his worth leading the team.
There are no such problems for Babar Azam, who now has as many ODI tons as his skipper but from three successive matches.
Babar has been imperious on this tour and after back-to-back scores of 120 and 123 in the first two ODIs he became only the eighth man in history to score three centuries on the bounce in this format.
This innings had all the calm of the previous two and was equally without alarm, but actually came at a faster rate. He and Azhar combined superbly in a second wicket partnership worth 147 on a batting paradise of a track in the UAE capital.
West Indies’ bowling attack again lacked potency but the tourist’s limpness should not mask Babar’s remarkable efforts.
He has churned out three hundreds in the space of six days, each oozing as much class and confidence as the other as the 21-year-old continues to show a maturity and application that contradict his youthfulness.
Again, Pakistan set their selves up for a mammoth total and the Abu Dhabi ODI record of 313-9 should have easily been passed.
But, once more, their lower middle order were unable to put the foot on the gas at the death and take a good total into the realms of great.
That they hit only two boundaries from the last 13.2 overs illustrated their inability to explode late on, reaching 308-6 and adding just 69 in the final ten overs of their innings.
It was too much for a West Indies side desperately short on rhythm, form and confidence as they fell well short of the total.
Bigger challenges await for Pakistan and questions still hang over Azhar’s captaincy but, here in the UAE, they have proven far too good for the touring side, thanks largely to the brilliance of Babar.
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