5 most underappreciated batsmen in the sport

Azhar Ali

Ali has been a rock for Pakistan at the crucial No 3 position

Think of all the wonderful No 3 batsmen in the world and if you are not a Pakistani, you may easily not remember Azhar Ali. The 33-year old Pakistani occupies this most pivotal position in the Pakistan batting line-up and, just as is expected of a batsman at that spot, has been a rock for his team.

Primarily a defensive style batsman, Ali made his debut in Pakistan’s 2010 tour of England. While most of the batting line-up failed on that forgettable tour for his team, Ali showed his mettle with a fighting 92* at The Oval.

Over the years, Ali turned into a very dependable and solid batsman for Pakistan and was part of, and integral, to a very successful period in Pakistan cricket under Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy where his team remained undefeated in their adopted home of UAE in Tests.

Ali has over 5000 runs from 62 Tests with 14 hundreds. To draw a comparison, Joe Root has 13 from 65 matches. Yet one hardly hears much about him except when Pakistan are playing.

What’s even more impressive is that Ali is getting better with time. He now has a triple hundred, a double hundred in Australia and hundreds in each innings of a Test (vs Australia in 2014).

With such a great list of achievements, Ali deserves to be considered among the best batsmen in the world of Test cricket.