Mohammad Hafeez 6/10 – Mohammad Hafeez scored 1 half century in 5 innings, held on to important catches
and had 5 wickets at just an average of 16 including dismissing either Cook or
Strauss 3 times early in their innings to break the opening partnership with a
relatively new ball each time. 4 times he was trapped LBW in 5 times he was
dismissed and the vast majority came against the spinners. Monty got him 3 of
the times in the 5 dismissals whereas Swann and Anderson got him LBW one time
each.
Taufeeq Umar 5/10 – Taufeeq had a noteworthy test
match at Dubai in the 1st test with a half century followed by an unbeaten stay
to get the hosts over the line untroubled to take a thumping 10 wicket win.
However, Taufeeq was dismissed cheaply in the next 4 innings with Swann getting
him in Abu Dhabi bowled both time on the off stump line and Anderson removed him
in his first or 2nd over with the new ball both times in the 3rd test with one
delivery swinging back and the other shaping across as Taufeeq edged behind.
Taufeeq also spilled a regulation catch in the slip cordon of Alastair Cook
which could have proved to be costly. Taufeeq did put on 50 or above with Hafeez
twice in the series for the opening stand. Taufeeq has now featured in 15
consecutive tests or 7 full series opening the batting with Hafeez, which is the
most by any Pakistani opening pair.
Azhar Ali 9/10 – Forget the low scores and trouble caused by Broad as we witnessed 2 vital
innings in pressure situations during the course of the series. Azhar piled on
an invaluable stand of 88 for the 5th wicket with Shafiq in Abu Dhabi to provide
the bowlers with something to bowl at and prevent England from running through
the line up on the evening session of the 2nd test day 3 when they had Pakistan
55/4 with the best part of 2 hours left in the day and only the youngsters and
tail left, but they managed to survive to stumps without further loss and take
the score to 125/4 to keep Pakistan’s hopes alive at the Sheikh Zayed
Stadium.
It was encouraging to see 2 young technically and
temperamentally well equipped batters in their mid 20s digging their side out of
trouble and demonstrating utmost character and responsibility with their
resistant, disciplined, spirited approach. Azhar top scored in the 2nd innings
of the 2nd test. In Dubai for the 3rd test Azhar complied a marathon effort for
his 158 which he spent approximately 9 hours at the crease. The match was in the
balance and if anything England had their noses in front when he walked out to
the middle as the Greens looked to cut off the 42 run deficit they had conceded
and then going on to losing both their openers whilst they were still trailing
behind. Azhar managed to survive and looked solid in defence as he was 1* from
29 as tea closed in. Then, batted 2 full sessions without losing a wicket
alongside Younis Khan who was having a stinker of a series up to this point as
the Greens concluded day 2 at 222/2 for stumps after England had been shot out
for 141 and Pakistan had been bundled out for 99 having won the toss on the
opening day. This was a remarkable recovery.
Their stand which was the
highest of the series grinded England down mentally and physically and even if
the rest of the order collapsed in a heap which they did in the middle session
of the 4th day it was always going to be a mountain to climb from their
perspective. What stood out about Azhar was how he eliminated DRS out of the
equation, fluently tackled the spinners and showed endless persistence and
perseverance early in his innings to get set for a long composed determined
vigil as the test drifted away from England’s hands the longer he was out
there. The KRL batsmen churned, wore, worked over, pro longed the innings duration,
earned England’s respect, provided a firm platform for further easier
accumulation/consolidation and frustrated the bowling into dust over a longer
period in order to reach his career best test score as he negotiated with Swann
and Monty securely in the 442 deliveries he spent at the middle which is the
longest he has batted as a firm defensive founder, stodgy accumulator, workhorse,
traditional blocker and innings holder. The true test virtues of discipline,
mental toughness, determination, temperament unflappability, resistance, stamina
and technical solidity were on display.
Azhar was the leading run scorer
in this tour and the only batsmen from either party to score over 200 runs as he
ended on 251 in 5 innings at an average of 50+. This was the highest average of
the series in what has been a bowler dominant low scoring series. Azhar made the
highest individual score in the series, just like he did for Pakistan on
Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010 where we saw that unbeaten 92 in a match
winning cause at the Oval.
The classical old school crease occupier also
faced the most deliveries in the series with 727. In all 3 series which have
been contested in the UAE against the South Africans, Sri Lankans and now
England, Azhar has ended the series as the 1st or 2nd in the most runs, balls
faced, 50+ scores registered and highest average. Azhar has only lost 1 in 9
series as a player since debuting at Lords in 2010 against the Aussies. Azhar
has now entered the top 10 on the ICC batsmen test rankings alongside SRT. The
future captain has 13 50s and 2 centuries in 39 test innings with both his
centuries coming at the DSC.
In all 4 sessions which Pakistan had on
this tour where they only lost 1 wicket or less featured Azhar Ali which is a
significant period in the context of the match scenario due to wickets falling
quickly in the series and Azhar alongside his partner managed to block the
passage, interrupt the pattern of wickets falling quickly, pick the bowling to
negotiate with what was being sent down at them and ultimately this led to
getting some partnerships rolling.
Top Order Analysis
Tag clouds: PAKISTANENGLAND2012TESTS, ABDULLAH-AZHARALI
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