Azhar Ali likely to be sacked from one day captaincy after series defeat in Australia

Azhar Ali is on the verge of losing his one day captaincy after yet another series defeat in Australia. The men in green were comprehensively outplayed by the hosts to clinch the series by a margin of 4-1.

Pakistan Cricket Board is tempted to go with Sarfaraz Ahmed for the one day captaincy as well after his success in the T20 format. The inside sources also state that move is made to ensure that there is one captain for all the formats if and when Misbah-ul-Haq calls time on his test career. The issues were discussed at length by Chairman of Selectors and Chairman of cricket board and the only viable solution was to appoint Sarfaraz Ahmed the new captain of the side.

The move could also mean that Azhar Ali will not be in contention for the Test Captaincy after his noticeable struggles in the shorter format. Azhar did lead Pakistan only once against New Zealand in the second test of the series played at Hamilton. It has not been easy for Azhar Ali since he took over as the one day captain as the side slumped to all-time low ranking in the format in the rankings issued by ICC.

The teams has lost consistently to good teams that has put more pressure on Azhar Ali as the captain since taking from Misbah-ul-Haq after World Cup 2015.The series win have largely come against weaker teams like Ireland, Srilanka and Westindies. Though he has done well in the format scoring over 1100 runs at an average of 37.19 but his strike-rate has been on the low side. Azhar Ali was also sacked from captaincy for Lahore Qalandars after dismal performance of the side touted to win the prize in the first edition of Pakistan Super League held in UAE.

The loss against Australia might be writing on the wall for Azhar Ali’s captaincy in the format. The next few weeks will decide the fate of his future as captain of the side .

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