Fakhar Zaman had dreamt a few days ago that he would get out on a no-ball in CT 2017 final
Cricket | March 29, 2023 9:59 ISTPakistan defeated India by 180 runs in the final of Champions Trophy in 2017.
Pakistan defeated India by 180 runs in the final of Champions Trophy in 2017.
Azhar, who stepped down as Test captain before the New Zealand tour, said the pitch also had runs for the batsmen if one applied himself and picked the right shots to play.
Babar is now Pakistan captain across all three formats and his first assignment will be the ICC World Test Championship fixtures against New Zealand, which will be played in Mount Maunganui and Christchurch from December 26-30 and January 3-7.
Azhar, who is the most Test capped player now in the national team with 81 appearances, is said to have lost favour with a influential member of the cricket committee
According to sources close to the players, PCB CEO will meet with the three players on Monday to convey the board’s displeasure over their move to approach PM Imran Khan.
Azhar fought hard, showed courage, showed changed in tactics against the English attack and displayed mental toughness as he notched up his 17th Test century and third against England on day 3 of the third Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Azhar came under immense scrutiny after Pakistan lost the first Test from a winning position to go 0-1 down in the three-match series.
Azhar has faced a lot of criticism following the team's three-wicket defeat against England in Manchester
Pakistan lost the opener by three wickets despite dominating most parts of the game and captain Azhar Ali was heavily criticised for his poor captaincy
Akram was particularly critical of Ali's decision to under-bowl pacer Naseem Shah, who was used for just 13 overs out of 82 in the second innings while defending a target of 277.
Pakistan did not manage a single maiden during their partnership that lasted 33 overs as England bounced back from 117 from 5 to 256 for six
Following the toss at the Old Trafford Cricket ground in Manchester, before the start of the first Test of the three-game series, Azhar and Root, inadvertently shook hands after the toss only to realise the rules immediately.
Azhar was named as Pakistan's Test captain in October 2019 after Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked from the role across formats. Babar Azam was named as skipper in white-ball cricket.
Azhar, presently 27th among batsmen, will be hoping to regain the form that lifted him to a career-best sixth in December 2016, while Babar will be hoping to progress from a career-best aggregate of 800 rating points.
Experienced left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamir has also now joined the squad in Derbyshire with another young pacer Haris Rauf set to join the team after finally clearing his COVID-19 tests.
Azhar Ali and Sarfaraz Ahmed will lead the two sides as they take each other on in an intra-squad match to prepare for three-Test series against England.
The Pakistan team started their preparations for the much-anticipated series with a two-day inter-squad scenario-based practice match played on July 5-6 at Worcester.
Raja pointed towards Pakistan's tour of Australia last year where Azhar could muster only 62 runs in four innings as the hosts recorded as convincing 2-0 series whitewash.
Since September 2018, England have played six different opening pairs in 18 Tests with none of the pairs opening more than nine times.
Pakistan's tour of England begins on July 30 with a three-match Test series. This will be followed by a three-match T20I series from August 29 to September 2.
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