Pakistan’s new one-day international skipper Azhar Ali proved his worth when he became the first skipper for his country to hit a one-day century in five years during the third match against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Wednesday. Azhar returned to the team after two years with the responsibility of leading the side and saw the team losing their first two matches to face immense criticism.
But Azhar showed he was not the one to give up under pressure and took the onus on his own shoulders to lift the side to 250 all out with this maiden century.
Azhar with his 101 off 112 balls followed the feat of Shahid Afridi, who scored 124 off 60 balls against same opponents at Dambulla in 2010 being the last Pakistani captain.
Only eight cricketers of Pakistan could score a century on 10 occasions when they were leading their country.
India and Australia each saw at least 39 times from their captain while Bangladesh tested it only three times.
Imran Khan was the first Pakistani skipper to score a century when he made 102 against Sri Lanka at Leeds back in 1983.
Later it was followed by Rameez Raza, Saeed Anwar, Inzamamul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Azhar Ali, with Afridi and Inzamam accomplishing it twice in their career.
Azahr century was more significant as his ability to handle the pressure was being questioned after just two defeats against Bangladesh.
The right-hander however never looked short of confidence as far as his batting was concerned by scoring 72 and 36 in the opening two games though all his effort went in vain.
He needed to do a miracle to turn the fortune of his demoralised side against the spirited hosts and the 30-year old batsman took the consolation from the fact that he at least gave his best.
His predecessor Misbah-ul-Haq, who made 42 fifties but no centuries in his in 162 ODIs, lifted Pakistan on many occasions from a dismal situation and Azhar showed he is right in the same club.
-With New Age input