Azhar Ali Set To Retire From ODIs: Report

Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali has reportedly decided to retire from One-Day Internationals. 

Pakistani media has reported that former Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali wants to bring down curtains on his ODI career. As per reports, Azhar has made up his mind on giving up on ODI career after being convinced that the current lot is capable enough to take the team in the right direction.

“Azhar is retiring from ODIs to focus on Test cricket,”  a source was quoted as saying by Geo TV.

“The 33-year-old believes that youngsters in the team are playing good cricket and can take the team forward,” the source added.

Azhar made his debut in ODIs in 2011 against Ireland and went on to became the captain of the side in 2015. It was a controversial move as he had not played ODI cricket for almost 2 years at the time of his appointment.  His captaincy career started in the worst possible manner as Bangladesh registered a historic 3-0 whitewash win over the Men in Green.

It is safe to say that Azhar’s captaincy was a disappointing one. Under Azhar’s leadership, Pakistan’s slipped to a record-low ninth in the ODI rankings. They somehow made it to the Champions Trophy in 2017 as the lowest-ranked team in the 8-team competition.

Pakistan won only five out of ten bilateral series under Azhar, two of them against Zimbabwe, and one each against Ireland, Sri Lanka and West Indies. In all, Pakistan won 12 and lost 18 games under him. He eventually stepped down after Pakistan lost an ODI series by 4-1 in Australia.

With the bat, he scored 1,845 runs at an average of 36.9, including three centuries and 12 half-centuries.

Azhar last played an ODI match on January 13, 2018 against New Zealand. One of his finest moments came in June last year when he was a part of the squad that won the Champions Trophy.