Smattering of applause from England players, Barmy Army for Azhar Ali

A smattering of applause was received by Pakistan’s veteran batter Azhar Ali, from England players and the Barmy Army, as he made his way back to the pavilion for the final time in his international career.

The right-hander was dismissed for a duck in his final Test innings after being cleaned up by spinner Jack Leach on the third day of the ongoing final Test of the series against England in Karachi.

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

Meanwhile, the Barmy Army also cheered for Azhar from the stands.

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).