LAHORE: Newly appointed captain of the ODI squad Azhar Ali has said his first target is to encourage players to play as a unit instead of concentrating on individual performances.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday as the captain, Azhar, 30, said, “Unity is the most important aspect for any team to win. We all have to play as a unit, even if we make progress slowly. It is also of vital importance that players show consistency.”

Azhar, who has played 39 Tests and 14 One-day Internationals and maintained healthy averages of 41.31 and 41.09 respectively, said he was not part of the ODI team for quite some time but he had overcome his batting flaws in domestic cricket and he would be an improved batsman this time.

He also negated the impression that his strike-rate was not exemplary and added that he had improved that while playing domestic cricket.

Asked how he would tackle some Pakistan players who create trouble, Azhar said he had played with almost all of them and they were his friends and good guys.

“Hopefully, they will back me. I will also be supporting them because we have a common cause of lifting Pakistan cricket,” he maintained.

To a question, Azhar said he was familiar with the tradition of criticism whenever Pakistan lose.

“But with the passage of time, we get mature and the media also realises it. We played good cricket at the World Cup as we staged a strong comeback and played the quarter-final. At the end of the day, the best team won,” he said.

Asked he was going to replace Misbah-ul-Haq, who had faced lots of criticism despite being the best captain for Pakistan, Azhar was all praise for the outgoing skipper and said the way he had handled pressure during his five-year captaincy was fantastic.

“It will not be easy for me to fill the vacuum which will be created after Misbah’s retirement. I will try to achieve the target with the help of youngsters,” he said.

He added that nobody could ignore the services of Misbah, who had rendered tremendous services for Pakistan.

The outgoing skipper always supported him and he would be inspiring source for him.

When asked if he was comfortable with the PCB’s decision of not giving him the right to vote in the matters of selection, Azhar said as he had the right to give opinion, he had no problem with it.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2015

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