Guard of honour for Azhar Ali as he walks off the field for the final time

The veteran batter was dismissed for a duck in his last Test innings

By Web Desk
December 19, 2022
Teammates give guard of honour to Azhar Ali  — PCB

Azhar Ali was given a guard of honour by his teammates after he walked off the field for the final time during the ongoing third Test against England in Karachi.

The veteran batter was dismissed for a duck in his final Test innings after being cleaned up by spinner Jack Leach. 

As Azhar made his way back to the pavilion, he was also congratulated by the England players, including captain Ben Stokes, on the field. 

Azhar was one of Pakistan's most successful batters, with 7,142 runs in 97 matches.

The right-hander is Pakistan’s fifth leading Test run-getter behind Younis Khan (10,099), Javed Miandad (8,832), Inzamam-ul-Haq (8,829) and Mohammad Yousuf (7,530).

In 2010, Azhar, as a 25-year-old, made his Test debut in England against Australia at Lord’s and scored his maiden Test half-century in only his second match.

He notched up 35 half-centuries and went past the 100-run mark on 19 instances over the course of his career.

The 37-year-old also led Pakistan in nine Tests in two separate tenures from 2016 till 2020.

Azhar, 37, is the only Pakistan batter to score a triple-century in a pink-ball Test — a feat that he achieved against the West Indies at Dubai in 2016. That unbeaten 302 remains his highest score in Test cricket.

Azhar retired from One-Day Internationals in 2018 — a year after helping Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. In that tournament, Azhar had scores of 50 (v India), 9 (v South Africa), 34 (v Sri Lanka), 76 (v England in semi-final) and 59 (v India in final).

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