Azhar Ali retires from ODI cricket

E-Paper | April 29, 2026

Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has announced his retirement from ODI cricket in order to prolong his Test career.

"It is not a decision that I have taken suddenly; I had been considering this for quite some time." the 33-year-old batsman said in a press conference. "I think the time is right for me to focus on Test cricket.

"This is my personal decision for the betterment of my career.

Azhar wished Sarfraz — the man who succeeded him as the national team's skipper in the 50-over format — his best wishes.

"All of us should support Sarfraz," he said. "He is doing a brilliant job. He is handling everything very well. The team has gelled very well under him."

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Ubc

Nov 01, 2018 04:15pm

Mature

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Pakistan

Nov 01, 2018 04:19pm

Foolish decision at his part...

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Harris

Nov 01, 2018 04:20pm

Very very bad decision. Pakistan plays very little cricket anyway, and the odi batting is nothing less than a joke. He needs to take the decision back.

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Texan

Nov 01, 2018 04:20pm

He should be in ODI team because batting line up is too shaky without any solid player. Learn from CT final.

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Sab Se Pehle Pakistan

Nov 01, 2018 04:24pm

He could have been helpful in 2019 WC as it will be in England. He is fit enough to continue. He should reconsider his decision.

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Vivek M

Nov 01, 2018 04:34pm

Oh Azhar Ali, you should have continued in ODI dude. You were been looked up as Pakistan's Rahul Dravid or Pakistan's Mahela Jayawardena so to say, who could potentially help up middle order's reins, around whom openrs or lower-middle order can hook up and scores heavily. Especially during the closing careers of Mohd Hafiz and Shoieb Malik, you could have play a great role until OD World Cup of 2019.

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Anti-Corruption_Pakistani

Nov 01, 2018 04:35pm

Good decision, as in ODI and T20 formats, more aggressive players are required and currently performing quite well. Focus on test cricket and make runs!

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amir

Nov 01, 2018 04:59pm

was he not begged to resign after his poor ODI captaincy by chief of PCB and he would not even return the phone call

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M. Emad

Nov 01, 2018 05:00pm

@Texan, someone is talking about CT final. lol Good Decision from Azhar Ali, he isn't Kohli like who made hi most of the score against small teams in his backyard.

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fairplay

Nov 01, 2018 05:04pm

let him choose his retirement, why quibble about it. his temprament seems to be for Test cricket. respect his choice.

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Javid

Nov 01, 2018 05:07pm

Thanks very much. But think about it even in test cricket you have to make runs.

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Ikram

Nov 01, 2018 05:13pm

We need Azhar Ali in ODI side to give some stability

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Nov 01, 2018 05:21pm

Great decision to call it a quits from ODI and focus on test cricket, which in essence is real cricket. He should have taken this decision much earlier. However, as said by the legendary U.S. civil rights leader; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., " Time is always right to do what is right."

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Syed

Nov 01, 2018 05:31pm

Must be eyeing test captain position that suddenly got available since Mohsin arrived on the scene.

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Khany

Nov 01, 2018 05:39pm

Don't blame him

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Karachitee

Nov 01, 2018 05:43pm

Wise decision. It is always better to quit gracefully rather than finger pointing to you on any future defeats .

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M. Saeed

Nov 01, 2018 05:53pm

Azhar Ali should have tried to retire with some accolades gathered, like Misbah.

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Zahir Qadri

Nov 01, 2018 06:19pm

@Pakistan, : Right decision his performance are poor.

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Omar Saeed

Nov 01, 2018 06:21pm

@Harris, it is correct decision, bcs he is not player of ODI, just some PCB members pushing him to play. Good to leave on right time, he should not play ODI.

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Jabbar Sorathi

Nov 01, 2018 06:26pm

@Texan, He has been dropped in team 2013, but due to Misbah and Sharyar bought him back in 2015 as captain, even he was not a player, his performance was poor, but Misbah Sifarish his fellow sui northern team he pushed as captain, weight was too heavy and he was out of cricket from 2013 suddenly made him captain, he can not take burden and soon removed now he dropped. He is slow and not ODI players.

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Tariq Rashid

Nov 01, 2018 06:28pm

News of the Day. He was never suitable for the ODI's.. very late but correct decision..

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Asif Masood uk

Nov 01, 2018 06:28pm

@Sab Se Pehle Pakistan, Sir he is not ODI player since 2013 he dropped from cricket why Misbah +Sharyar Khan what basis nominated him captain, which is illegal, pirchi system.

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Tariq Rashid

Nov 01, 2018 06:29pm

News of the day.. He was never suitable for ODI's.. very late but good decision..

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syed shah

Nov 01, 2018 06:30pm

Good decision at the right time, we have some new players hungry to produce runs for Pakistan. He played enough. Let's give chance to young cricketers. ODO, T20 is the young guys' cricket. means active and very with great reflexes and movement like Shadab.

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Tariq Rashid

Nov 01, 2018 06:51pm

Good Riddance - he was never suitable for ODI's.. a late but welcome decision..

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Pak_UK

Nov 01, 2018 07:01pm

Old decision.

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Imran

Nov 01, 2018 07:17pm

@Tariq Rashid, an odi average of 36 not suitable for odis?

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Feroz

Nov 01, 2018 07:24pm

@Tariq Rashid, Azhar has a better odi strike rate of 74 than Rahul Dravid who has 71. Are you now claiming Rahul Dravid, probably one of the greatest middle order batsmen was not up to mark?

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Solomon The King

Nov 01, 2018 07:26pm

an expected outcome of many-time ODI drop-outs, although he was not a poor opening choice for the format

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PAKISTANFIRST

Nov 01, 2018 08:13pm

One good decision -- should take another good decision and retire from test cricket too. He scores too slowly and thus kills the team's momentum. His scoring rate even in test cricket is low by Today's expected standards.

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umair

Nov 01, 2018 08:18pm

Mohsin Khan statement effect.

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TOMATO

Nov 01, 2018 08:40pm

@M. Emad, Why don't you read up on where Kohli scored his centuries before making inane comments?

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TOMATO

Nov 01, 2018 08:53pm

@M. Emad, Do you know Kohli scored a century in his very first appearance in your country? World Cup 2011 inaugural match in Dhaka?

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Talha

Nov 01, 2018 09:01pm

Yes focus on test cricket to come up with new way of getting run out

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manish

Nov 01, 2018 09:18pm

I think only Pakistani batsman apart from Malik in the team retires from ODI , bad news for Pakistan for the moment.

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HonorBright

Nov 01, 2018 10:05pm

Everyone wanted him to change his batting style in ODIs which i guess he did change eventually. Still there was a burden of his test match purity which seemed to sit heavily upon him... i don't know whether we shall miss him in ODIs or not but he somehow seemed to have sensed his unfitness for the shorter format more than us spectators... good luck Azhar, stay strong for the tests..

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Salman

Nov 01, 2018 10:13pm

With the addition of new kids in the team recently, it’s a wise decision, there is no room to bring new blood if the old players don’t leave, plus Test team need more of a solid long term players at the moment as the young kids don’t have much experience under their belt. It will take time for the new players to get adjusted in test cricket. Also as a senior player he has better opportunity in test cricket to be a Captain which will be a plus for his career before complete retirement.

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wsyed

Nov 01, 2018 10:53pm

He has good skills but lacks speed for ODI, so good in that respect. However, Pakistan lacks skilled players. even the Captain Sarfraz is totally unreliable and unathletic. If Azhar could learn to score and not just occupy the crease, yes he is one of very few who actually know the sport. Success in T20 is not a measure of a team, ODI and test games are more indicative of skills. T20 depends on few key players, not the whole team, so we should look at all formats to judge performance. One man should not be leading all formats, younger players need to be groomed for future. Geo Pakistan.

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RIZ

Nov 02, 2018 12:08am

I guess he realizes that he won't get preference over Imam-ul-Haq who is younger and Inzamam nephew. Hope he will keep performing in test and as we have seen in the past how many times these players have changed their decision so won't be surprised if he does he same. All the best to him in upcoming test matches.

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Saim Rauf

Nov 02, 2018 12:30am

Pakistani team needs an experienced campaigner like Azhar Ali to be with the team especially in a mega event like WC. The batting department is inexperienced, vulnerable and prone to be wrapped up effortlessly on a given day. The presence of a veteran batsman like Azhar will provide more stability to the batting order. He should take his decision back for the sake of his country

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Sarfaraz Ahmed

Nov 02, 2018 04:28am

A gentleman cricketer. Let’s not forget he was a big reason why Pakistan won the Champions Trophy. I have no doubt that Fakhar would not have been able to play his innings if Azhar wasn’t at the other end to guide him. Without him and Hafeez we saw the results in Asia Cup. It was not the best decision by selection committee to omit him from the ODI squad. I agree with some of the other comments that he would have been very useful in English conditions at WC2019.

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K-2

Nov 02, 2018 06:33am

@wsyed, you must be from the largest province aren't you? Bias just reeks out and cant even take string of victories in T-20 and recent test series!

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K-2

Nov 02, 2018 06:40am

@Salman, Did you forget his ODI captaincy and lack of imagination and dynamism single handily made our ODI team into a minnow! No thank you,, In recent series, he could not score in the tests either. Capability to speak English and being from Punjab does not make you an automatic captain, record matters:)

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Fawad

Nov 02, 2018 07:38am

Azhar is a thoughtful mature cricketer, well groomed by Younis and Misbah. He is not a great fit for the ODI or T20 roke but is potentially one of the greats in the Test side for Pakistan. Good decision by him, although his contributions to Pakistan's champions trophy win in English conditions cannot be forgotten.

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JackJones

Nov 02, 2018 08:26am

@M. Emad, So you consider his over 50 runs in CT Final against India an achievement with a small team. Yes it was a one sided game and Pakistan won.

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LOUDSPEAKER

Nov 02, 2018 08:32am

Good decision by Azhar Ali. Now he has realized that he can no longer maintain fast scoring rate required in this format of cricket.

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Ali Vaqar Awan

Nov 02, 2018 11:39am

Right decision taken by Azhar Ali. He was hardly suited to ODI. He should focus on his test career.

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JACKJONES

Nov 03, 2018 09:36am

Unfortunately, PCB does not know how to respect and take care of a talented batsman. On the one hand I feel Azhar should not have retired because he has a good 3 to 5 years in the ODI circuit but than on the other hand I think retiring was a good decision because PCB has not been fair to him. A player should be in the team as long as he is performing and PCB should know that sometimes a talented player can be out of form. Did Azhar not perform in the CT in England? Overall, I think Azhar gave up too soon!!

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