Sarfaraz Ahmed and Azhar Ali
Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed has a special message for team captain Azhar Ali ahead of the second Test against England at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton which begins on Thursday (August 13).
Taking to Twitter, the former Pakistan captain shared the picture of the two and wrote, "Bhayya stay strong in shaa allah we will bounce back Pakistan zindabad @AzharAli_"
Pakistan lost the opener by three wickets despite dominating most parts of the game. A century from Shan Masood, a half-century from Babar Azam and a counter-attacking game from Shadab Khan along with the bowling attack helped Pakistan take a healthy 107-run lead before setting a target of 277. Pakistan further held momentum after the bowlers reduced England to 117 for five in the final innings but a record-breaking 139-run stand between Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes guided the hosts to a clinical win in Manchester last week.
Azhar was heavily criticised for his poor captaincy. Former cricketer Wasim Akram opined that Azhar “missed a trick” several times during the final innings.
“It will hurt the Pakistan team and the cricket lovers in Pakistan,” former captain Akram told Sky Sports. “Winning and losing is part of cricket, but I think our captain missed a trick quite a few times in this game, as far as his leadership is concerned.”
