After completing his tour of England, Azhar Ali will hang up his cleats for good

After the third and final Test match against England in Karachi, which will begin on Saturday, veteran Pakistan top-order batsman Azhar Ali will hang up his cleats and retire from international cricket.

The departure of the 37-year-old former captain from the second test, which marked the second time in the past six months that he had been excluded from the squad, was a clear indication that the player’s tenure with the club was drawing to a close.

Azhar will most likely step into the starting lineup for the Karachi Test in lieu of the injured Imam-ul-Haq and will be looking to go out on a high note.

An emotional Azhar said in a press conference that “Everything must come to an end, so on a good note I feel — and my heart and mind understands — that this is the right time to decide that the Karachi Test will be my last for Pakistan.” “Everything must come to an end,” Azhar said. “The Karachi Test will be my last for Pakistan.”

“Not only was it an honour to play for Pakistan, but also to lead the country, and I am going with good memories,” said Azhar, who is Pakistan’s fifth-highest Test scorer with 7,097 runs from 96 matches. He is the fifth-highest Test scorer in Pakistan’s history.

During Pakistan’s home series against England, which they are currently losing 2-0, it seemed like Azhar’s time as captain of the team was coming to an end.

In the first test, which took place in Rawalpindi, he scored 27 and 40, but the manner in which he was dismissed drew criticism. He was caught off the pacer Ollie Robinson to leg slip, where a fielder was already in position.

He was not selected to take part in the second test, just as he was not selected to take part in the second test that was played against Sri Lanka at Galle in July of this year.

Azhar Ali disputed that he had been removed from his position.

He stated, “I have complete control over the situation.” “No one instructed me to carry out these steps.”

Azhar Ali Test career was characterised by Pakistan’s isolation from international cricket, which prevented him from playing any of his first 75 matches on home grounds. His career began at Lord’s in 2010, and it was during this time that he made his debut.

As a direct consequence of the terrorist assaults that occurred in Lahore in 2009 against the Sri Lankan team bus, Pakistan was compelled to play their matches in neutral venues.

As soon as Pakistan hosted a test match again in December 2019, Azhar scored a century for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Karachi during the second test match.

According to Azhar, who has recorded 19 hundreds in test matches, “it was tremendous to play at home and score that hundred.”

Until a few years ago, I was under the impression that I would never be allowed to compete in a test match at my own stadium.

In addition, Azhar represented Pakistan in a total of 53 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), including 31 as captain, and nine Tests.

He counted his unbeaten 302 against the West Indies in Dubai six years ago as one of his greatest performances. At the time, it was the first and only triple hundred scored in a day-night test.

Additionally, he was a member of Pakistan’s Champions Trophy winning squad in the year 2017.