Azhar Ali - Full Profile - Test Cricketer Pakistan

Full name Azhar Ali

Born February 19, 1985, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 26 years 355 days

Major teams Pakistan, Khan Research Laboratories, Lahore, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, Pakistan A

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

 
Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	21	39	4	1511	157	43.17	3920	38.54	2	13	161	3	14	0
ODIs	1	1	0	39	39	39.00	65	60.00	0	0	4	0	0	0
First-class	81	134	15	4495	157	37.77			13	23			66	0
List A	65	51	12	1825	119	46.79			5	11			19	0
Twenty20	17	17	2	258	40	17.20	228	113.15	0	0	26	5	15	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	21	4	66	44	1	1/4	1/4	44.00	4.00	66.0	0	0	0
ODIs	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	81		1323	861	26	4/34		33.11	3.90	50.8	0	1	0
List A	65		1372	1135	36	5/23	5/23	31.52	4.96	38.1	2	2	0
Twenty20	17	4	78	74	6	2/13	2/13	12.33	5.69	13.0	0	0	0

Career statistics

Test debut	Australia v Pakistan at Lord's, Jul 13-16, 2010
Last Test	England v Pakistan at Dubai (DSC), Feb 3-6, 2012
Test statistics
Only ODI	Ireland v Pakistan at Belfast, May 30, 2011
ODI statistics
First-class debut	2001/02
Last First-class	England v Pakistan at Dubai (DSC), Feb 3-6, 2012
List A debut	2000/01
Last List A	Ireland v Pakistan at Belfast, May 30, 2011
Twenty20 debut	Abbottabad Rhinos v Islamabad Leopards at Karachi, Feb 24, 2006
Last Twenty20	Lahore Eagles v Sialkot Stallions at Karachi, Oct 1, 2011

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
1, 157	Pakistan	v England	Dubai (DSC)	3 Feb 2012	Test # 2034
24, 68	Pakistan	v England	Abu Dhabi	25 Jan 2012	Test # 2032
1	Pakistan	v England	Dubai (DSC)	17 Jan 2012	Test # 2030
57, 0/8, 34	Pakistan	v Bangladesh	Dhaka	17 Dec 2011	Test # 2024
26	Pakistan	v Bangladesh	Chittagong	9 Dec 2011	Test # 2022
2/31, 1, 1/18	Khan RL	v Lahore Ravi	Lahore	30 Nov 2011	First-class
13, 14	Khan RL	v United Bank	Lahore	24 Nov 2011	First-class
7, 0, 2/39	Khan RL	v Peshawar	Peshawar	12 Nov 2011	First-class
53, 7	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Sharjah	3 Nov 2011	Test # 2014
100, 29*	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Dubai (DSC)	26 Oct 2011	Test # 2011

Profile

An opening batsman by trade, Azhar has worked his way steadily up Pakistan's domestic scene since 2006. That was the season he began opening regularly for Khan Research Laboratories, a move that fetched him two hundreds and two fifties in five matches, and he hasn't looked back. In four seasons since, he's been averaging 40-plus with 11 hundreds, commendable figures in a country where opening is a modern-day curse.

All of his runs have been made with a compact technique, designed to get behind the line of each ball. Observers say he gets into a tangle against the shorter ball often but his patience is key. On an A tour to Australia in 2009, he twice made five-hour 70s against an attack that included Doug Bollinger, Clint McKay and Jason Krejza. That series propelled him into senior team focus and a solid, if not spectacular 2009-10 season, coupled with a move to look beyond Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, brought about a richly-deserved Test debut - in the middle order - at Lord's against Australia.

His first 18 months in international cricket suggests he belongs at this level. Azhar scored his first Test fifty in difficult batting conditions at Headingley, in a fourth-innings run-chase of 180 against Australia. Since then, he has been a model of consistency. His first Test hundred came only after he'd scored ten fifties, but that's only a minor blemish for a batsman who looks like he's the real deal in every way. Soon after that century against Sri Lanka came his best Test series, against England in the UAE in 2011-12, when he showed remarkable patience and temperament to score a second-innings century in another low-scoring match in Dubai. In a series dominated by the bowlers, Azhar was the only batsman from either side to average more than 50.