Rating the best openers in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup

#3 Azhar Ali

Pakistan seem to have found their replacement for Saeed Anwar

The stout Pakistan One Day captain, despite the heavy criticism levied at him for his scoring rate, has been the pillar of Pakistan's batting. He has provided much-needed stability at the top that Pakistan had been searching for since the retirement of Saeed Anwar.

Azhar has played 28 One Dayers since the 2015 event, averaging 39.85 while scoring 1,116 runs with three hundreds and five half-centuries. Although his three hundreds have come against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and West Indies, his presence at the top of the order was important in helping the likes of Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed score freely.

He had a good series against England despite Pakistan losing the series 4-1. He scored 208 runs at an average of 42.1 in the series, where he tried to lead the side by example. Inspite of the sheer weight of runs in the past one year, he has been underrated as an ODI opener.

Rating: 7/10