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It is not just the searing heat and humidity that Azhar Ali has to contend with. The Pakistan ODI captain is also facing the heat about his leadership qualities after a poor showing since taking over the role from Misbah-ul-Haq.
Since being appointed captain after last year's 50-over World Cup, Azhar Ali has captained in 25 games and has won only nine games and lost 15. They currently languish ninth in the ICC ODI rankings.
There have been calls from different quarters to axe him and hand the reins to Sarfraz Ahmed, who had done admirably well in the T20 format, since being installed as skipper.
A chastening 4-1 defeat on the tour to England has made those voices grow louder. And with Pakistan set to take on the West Indies over three ODIs in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, the pressure is clearly on Azhar.
But Azhar refused to talk about the captaincy and said it was up to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to decide, when asked if he would step down if they lose this series.
"It's for the Board to decide on my captaincy. I don't want to answer," Azhar said at a pre-match press briefing at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Azhar later added that they were stories concocted by the media. "I don't know why such things come from the media," he questioned.
"We have a big media and too many channels so they make news on air. But you have to ignore them. I don't know for what reason they start creating controversies which are not there at all," he added.
Instead, Azhar spoke of some of the positives since he took over the role. "I've been captaining for the last one and half years. I am enjoying the role and the team is building and shaping well. We have some new and exciting players coming up like Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali. Our fielding is also improving and there are glimpses of improvement in batting. We are still not there but we have shown glimpses of improvement," said Azhar.
Asked if there was pressure on him, especially after the team had done exceedingly well in the T20s, Azhar replied in the negative and said that the T20 team's showing will give them a lot of confidence.
"If Pakistan wins in any format then it's good and adds to our confidence. But we can't say we are favourites. It is 0-0 but we have to take the momentum from the T20s and try and win the first game. We will then carry on from there," he said.
Despite the West Indies coming up well short in the T20s, Azhar said they are still a dangerous team.
"In limited overs, they are a dangerous side and have players who can win games on their day. We are aware of that but we need to focus on our game and keep that aggressive mode of the T20 in the ODIs as well," said Azhar.
"They have the capability to bounce back and we are aware of that so we will try to keep our performance high and not allow them to come hard on us," he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com
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