He has done almost everything Pakistan cricket has asked of him, and he did it with class.
Will he play?
97 or sixty-six tests? Not even close to 100, as he would have liked.
For a mundane man like him, 100 is a poetic number that is far too magical.
Even though he clearly intended to, his conclusion in that manner would be almost dishonest.
Even if Azhar Ali manages to deal with the situation in the most decency possible with the resources at his disposal, he rarely gets to do things his way.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam stated that it was not yet confirmed whether Azhar would even get to play that final Test.
Moments after the tearful Azhar announced that he would be retiring from international cricket following the third Test against England.
The importance of having the best team combination suddenly seemed to be of the utmost importance for a team that just two matches ago chose to select first-class veteran Zahid Mahmood over first-class novice Abrar Ahmed over some hazy notions of justice.
Although it is not the most opulent way to say goodbye.
Azhar shouldn’t have expected one
He has felt like a player Pakistan could use and, if necessary, take advantage of throughout his career.
He started at No. 1 out of nowhere. 3 on debut, tasked with assuming the most difficult Test batting position.
He would then be moved up the order and given the responsibility of resolving Pakistan’s incessant opening batting problems once he had accomplished that and more.
He accomplished that with skill, scoring 45.76 runs per 1556 at-bats; no Pakistan opener (min. 30 innings) has a higher average than Azhar did in his debut.
And he wasn’t even in charge.
To find out about Azhar, you’d do it based on his conditions.
Out in the middle, staying true to his relationship with Test match cricket rather than playing to the crowd in search of a fleeting affair.
The captaincy of tests in 2018 would follow a similar pattern.
The need was brought about by Sarfaraz Ahmed’s lack of form, and since there was no obvious replacement, Azhar was given something that might have been his right away a few years ago.
This was the honor of a career for a man who places Test cricket on an unshakeable pedestal.
Azhar remains incomprehensible at the best of times
He spoke enthusiastically about the opportunity he now had to “leave a legacy in the sport’s best format” with the gleam in his eyes that day leaving little room for doubt.
The PCB quickly moved on due to an unfortunate combination of a drop in runs and a drop in results.
It would last for only nine matches. Babar had subsided into the Test side at this point, and had proactively assumed responsibility for the two white-ball designs.
The thing that mattered most to Azhar would become a career footnote because the placeholder had outlived his usefulness.