Azhar Ali spills beans on Pakistan team's 'Australia woes'

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has pinpointed the team's bowling performance as the primary factor behind their continuous struggle in Australia, stressing that it is not the batting but the inability to bowl out Australia twice in a match that lies at the core of the issue.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News in Karachi, on the sidelines of President's Trophy match, Azhar highlighted the inability to bowl out Australia twice in a match and mentioned it as a root cause for Pakistan’s drought in Australia.

“There were matches, where batsmen had scored good runs but our bowers were unable to bowl out Australia in that match. It has been so long that Pakistani bowlers had bowled Australia out twice in a match, and there is where the problem is,” he said.

His remarks come as the Green Shirts, during their chase of a 450-run target, were dismissed for a mere 89 runs with Saud Shakeel emerging as the top scorer with his 24-run innings.

There are only two such incidents where Pakistani bowlers have taken 20 wickets against Australia in their backyard — one in 1995 and the other in 2010.

“People would say that Pakistan were bowled out for 89 [runs] in Perth but I think by the time Pakistan’s inning started, the wicket had become very difficult with an uneven bounce, and knowing Australia’s [pace] attack, I think that [Pakistan's batting] collapse was not unexpected,” Azhar added.

The former captain said that Pakistan can still make a comeback in the series but for that bowler will have to take the larger share of responsibility.

He highlighted the importance of getting Australia out under 300 runs if the Men in Green want to beat the Kangaroos.

“I have confidence that Pakistani batters can post scores around 450, 475 but it is important for Pakistan that the bowlers are able to bowl out Australia for not a bigger total,” he said.

The ex-player further said that Pakistan should have played one more specialist bower instead of playing two all-rounders Faheem Ashraf and Salman Agha.

“If you want to take wickets, then you must go with specialist bowlers."

Azhar had earlier scored his 49th first-class century while playing a President's Trophy match for SNGPL against Ghani Glass.

Talking about his cricket in recent times, the former Test cricketer revealed that he hasn’t been in much practice but was happy to score the century.

Despite eying his 50th century in first-class cricket, he has no plans to come out of retirement.

“I may have retired a few matches earlier but then I felt the right time for doing so. I wanted to quit on a high note and make way for new players,” he said.