Azhar Ali Reveals Insights into Pakistan Team’s Challenges in Australia

Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has identified the team’s bowling performance as the primary factor behind their ongoing struggles in Australia. He emphasized that the core issue lies not in batting but in the team’s inability to bowl out Australia twice in a match.

Speaking exclusively to Geo News in Karachi during the President’s Trophy match, Azhar underscored the significance of bowling out Australia twice, stating, “There were matches where batsmen had scored good runs, but our bowlers were unable to bowl out Australia in that match. It has been so long that Pakistani bowlers have bowled Australia out twice in a match, and that is where the problem is.”

Azhar’s comments follow the recent match where Pakistan, chasing a 450-run target, was dismissed for only 89 runs, with Saud Shakeel top-scoring with 24 runs.

Highlighting the rarity of Pakistani bowlers taking 20 wickets against Australia in Australia, Azhar mentioned incidents in 1995 and 2010.

While acknowledging Pakistan’s collapse in Perth, Azhar noted, “I think by the time Pakistan’s inning started, the wicket had become very difficult with uneven bounce, and knowing Australia’s [pace] attack, I think that [Pakistan’s batting] collapse was not unexpected.”

Azhar expressed confidence in Pakistan’s ability to make a comeback in the series but stressed that bowlers need to shoulder a larger share of responsibility. He emphasized the importance of limiting Australia to under 300 runs and suggested that specialist bowlers should be prioritized over playing two all-rounders.

“If you want to take wickets, then you must go with specialist bowlers,” Azhar stated.

The former captain also mentioned his confidence in Pakistani batters’ ability to post scores around 450-475 but emphasized the crucial role of the bowlers in restricting Australia’s total.

Azhar, who recently scored his 49th first-class century in a President’s Trophy match for SNGPL against Ghani Glass, shared insights into Pakistan’s challenges in Australia and the strategic decisions that could improve their performance.