25 year old Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali was ever-present during the Test series versus Australia and England during a difficult and at times controversial summer in England. Ali scored a total of 291 runs, at an average of 26.45, with a highest score of 92 not out, but he feels that he could have done a lot better during the summer in England.
"It would be wrong for me to say that I am entirely satisfied with my overall performance in the six tests in England. I could and should have done better. I tried my best, but some of the wickets and conditions were very difficult for batting", stated Azhar Ali in an exclusive conversation with PakPassion.net.
Ali's excellent 92 not out at the Oval laid the foundations for Pakistan's four wicket victory over the hosts. In an innings that lasted more than four hours and in which he faced 176 deliveries, Ali showed the kind of application and patience that have made him one of the most highly rated batsmen in Pakistani domestic cricket. Conditions at the Oval suited the Pakistani batting line-up, but in all other instances they found life difficult at the crease when facing accomplished bowling line-ups. As a result, most Pakistani batsmen struggled to master or even negotiate the bowling most of the time.
"Conditions were very tough, the overhead conditions and cloud cover made life hard for the batsmen. The pitches tended to be very bowler friendly and it was hard work for all of the batsmen out there in the middle" stated Ali.
The KRL right hander kept his place in the Test side throughout the tour and stated that he was delighted to have been given a chance to represent his country and that his senior colleagues in the squad made him very welcome and offered him useful advice as he made his debut at Lord's.
"It was great to be making my debut at Lord's and all of the experienced boys in the squad were there to guide me and offer me advice. The guys around me told me to treat it like it was a first class match, to try to play my natural game, not to get too uptight and nervous and not to try anything too extravagant and to look at it as if it's just another game of cricket".
Ali's 92 at the Oval was the joint highest score by a Pakistani during the tour of England and his partnerships at the South London stadium with Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal of 69 and 57 respectively were amongst the batting high points for Pakistani fans, in a summer where the bowlers tended to dominate. Ali praised Yousuf for his guidance and advice in their partnership and he felt that Yousuf's words were the key to his solid innings.
"It wasn't just Yousuf's advice in the middle that helped me, but it was his praise off the pitch that also boosted my confidence. When he (Yousuf) met up with the squad, he said to me that I was batting well, that conditions were tough and that as a batsman in these conditions it was imperative that you battle hard and don't give the bowlers any easy wickets. Yousuf has an air of confidence and calmness about him that rubs off on all those in the middle with him".
Whilst Pakistan earned their solitary Test victory over England at the Oval, Azhar missed out on his first century by 8 runs when Pakistan had a middle order collapse losing 4 wickets for 34 runs, before Azhar and Asif shared in a crucial last wicket partnership of 38 runs.
"Yes there will always be a small degree of disappointment at not making a century, but I was more than happy with scoring 92 and especially given that Pakistan won the match. The way I look at it is that we built a lead of 75 runs in the first innings and then when we were all out, we managed to take the wicket of Strauss in the short time that was available on day 2. Who knows how things may have turned out if we hadn't picked up that important wicket towards the end of the second day."
In an extremely difficult tour for the Pakistani batsmen, Azhar showed some glimpses of promise. Both half centuries that he made were in the the course of Pakistan victories and he feels that the tour of England will do him no harm regarding his learning curve and development as a batsman.
"I have made some mistakes and it's up to me to learn from those mistakes, take notice of the errors that I made when batting and to ensure that those errors don't reoccur. Concentration and patience are two key lessons for me from both series. I've realised how important it is at this level to concentrate on every single moment out there, one lapse in concentration and your innings can be over. Patience is another aspect of my game that I can address after this summer, as I realise the importance of playing long innings in test cricket. The advantage for me is that I have debuted on tough wickets and hopefully going forward when I get the chance to bat on more batsmen friendly wickets, I can utilise my experience in England to ensure that I score heavily on the batting friendly tracks."
Highs and lows for the Pakistan team have been in abundance throughout the tour of England but from a personal perspective Ali felt that the two Test victories were a fantastic achievement for a young team and he was delighted to have contributed towards the wins.
"Both victories at Headingley and the Oval were fantastic. The results were superb and scoring half centuries in both matches was very satisfying. I was really pleased that I contributed in a way to both victories. The low point of the summer for me was the second test at Edgbaston against England. The second innings dismissal where I went to drive a delivery from Swann. It was a shot that I shouldn't have played and wasn't necessary at the time, especially given that I had laid the foundations for a big innings."
Ali whilst being a member of the squad, did not get the call-up for the one day internationals and Twenty20 matches against England; however he will have a keen eye on the upcoming series against South Africa in the UAE, where he will hope that the selectors continue to show faith in him.
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