Azhar Ali believes Test captain role not affecting batting performance
Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali says that being a Test captain is not affecting his role as a batsman.
“I don’t think about being the leader when I bat or whether if I am in form or not,” he said while interacting with the media following his side’s defeat to England in the first Test in Manchester. “I don’t think about my role as a batsman when I am the captain.”
Azhar was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of the series opener and went on to score just 18 runs in the second.
His batting performances as skipper have not been monumental either as he has 327 runs in 12 innings from seven Tests at an average of 27.25.
He believes there is all to play for his side in the remaining two fixtures in the three-match series. “It’s disappointing but not over yet, there are still two Tests to go.”
The skipper believes that his side were better than England in most parts of the match. “I wouldn’t say we lost the match in [our] second innings, but we missed a chance to knock England out of the game there.”
He added that the team would have gone on to win the match if they bagged just one more wicket. “They [Buttler and Woakes] attacked from the off and snatched the game away from us.”
Azhar lauded Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler for putting up a match-winning partnership of 139 runs for at the sixth wicket. “We were in control of the game; we were one punch away from finishing the game off, but they came and dominated us during that period.”
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