“At one point, I thought I would never play a Test at home”

Veteran Pakistan batter Azhar Ali admitted contemplating that he would never play for Pakistan on home soil. The 37-year-old right-handed batter acknowledged it was a challenging time not playing at home and credited the team for making all the efforts to bring the sport back home.

Before Test cricket returned to Pakistan in late 2019, the country faced exile following attacks on the Sri Lankan team’s bus in 2009.

While the nation hosted a few limited-overs international series, Test cricket returned in December 2019 as Sri Lanka agreed to tour Pakistan. Bangladesh visited in 2020, the Proteas did in 2021, followed by Australia and England in 2022.

Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton, Ali, who has played 10 home Tests, recalled the challenging period for Pakistan after the spot-fixing scandal in 2010 and stated:

“At one point, I thought I would never play a Test at home but finally I did that and scored a century as well. It was a challenging time, not playing at home and after what happened in England with the spot-fixing.

“It wasn’t nice, the next two years were hard on us, but credit to the boys. They have worked hard and brought the fans back and also the cricket has come back to Pakistan.”

Reflecting on his Test retirement, the right-handed batter stated that he wanted to call it quits after playing 100 matches and that there were plenty of nerves in the first innings of the Karachi Test against England. He said:

“I wanted to call it a day after 100 Test matches, but with the team wanting to rest me for the second Test here, I didn’t think I would be able to achieve that. You want to finish on a high, want to contribute. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

“I was more emotional in the first innings than the second. It was a nervy start in the first innings. I was quite calm in the second, but I am a human being so there was some emotion.”

The Lahore-born batter played his final Test innings on Monday and was cleaned up by left-arm spinner Jack Leach for a four-ball duck in the second innings and scored 45 in the first.

Nevertheless, he will retire as Pakistan’s fifth-highest run-getter in Tests, scoring 7142 runs in 97 Tests at an average of 42.26.

“I feel 300 is a special thing for me because not many people have done it” – Azhar Ali

Ali rated the knock of 302 against the West Indies in the pink-ball Test in 2016 as one of his special ones, while the highlight in limited-overs cricket was winning the Champions Trophy in 2017. The veteran added:

“There have been a lot of ups and downs and challenges in my career. I feel 300 is a special thing for me because not many people have done it. I am also the only Pakistani to score a double hundred in Australia so that is a big achievement, while another highlight was winning the Champions Trophy in 2017 in the white-ball format.”

He continued:

I would take that one day in my whole career. It is an exciting time for Pakistan cricket. I wish everyone well and hope they keep working hard and playing exciting cricket. People have also seen in this England series how supportive the fans are. You don’t always perform in every format but we have enough talent, enough potential so we have to stay patient.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan are on the cusp of a 3-0 series sweep against England as they need only 55 more runs with eight wickets in hand on Day 4 in Karachi.