Twitter Reactions: Azhar Ali destroys critics with a classy ton in Southampton

The last and deciding match of the three-match Test series between England and Pakistan is being played at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. Englishmen are currently leading with 1-0 as they won the first match against the visitors by three wickets while the second match was drawn due to the interruption of rain. Thus, Pakistan needs nothing less than a victory to at least draw their first series after lockdown.

At the beginning of the third Test, captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts thrashed the bowling line-up of Men in Green as they declared their first innings at a massive score of 583 at the loss of 8 wickets owing to the spellbound knock of 267 by Zak Crawley and 152 by wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler.

In response, Pakistan couldn’t do much as the pacer James Anderson left the opposite team in tatters with his brilliant bowling. He clinched the wickets of all the four main Pakistan batsmen namely Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, and Asad Shafiq in just 13 overs. However, captain Azhar Ali gave the Men in Green a lifeline as he gave an insight into his splendid batting skills at such crucial times.

A brilliant knock by Azhar Ali

Azhar fought hard and showed courage as he notched up his 17th Test century and third against England on Day 3 of the third Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. After seeing his team crumbling, the skipper upped his game level and displayed sheer brilliance as he smashed a ton in 205 balls.

This will be an extremely special inning for the skipper this overseas century came after 21 innings of playing outside UAE or Pakistan. Also, this is his second century as the captain. With this, he also became the fifth Pakistan batsman to reach the milestone of 6000 runs and joined an elite Pakistan group featuring Younis Khan, the current batting coach, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.

The 35-year-old had only managed to score 38 runs in three previous innings this series for which he was thrashed brutally on the social media sites and there was also a demand of sacking him from Test captaincy. However, this splendid innings not only earned him a standing ovation from the Pakistan team, but the cricketer is also trended on Twitter for all good things this time. Azhar is being appreciated from all over the world for his 17th century.

Here are the best tweets

One of the good guys. Played @AzharAli_ 💯 #ENGvPAK

— Isa Guha (@isaguha) August 23, 2020

Wonderful work captain!👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/sZhO5cJ0Nn

— Emmad Hameed (@Emmad81) August 23, 2020

THAT moment 💯#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/0rzf4TDmXQ

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 23, 2020

Azhar Ali & Mohammad Rizwan's 138 is the highest 6th-wkt partnerships in Tests at The Rose Bowl surpassing the 137 by IR Bell & EJG Morgan for England v Sri Lanka on 19 June 2011#EngvPak

— Arthur_S (@allanholloway) August 23, 2020

If the Pak captain was a Russian monarch, he’d be called Czar Ali.#sorry

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) August 23, 2020

What a great knock @AzharAli_ – leading from the front under so much pressure. Congrats on your ton. Furthermore Well done on your 6000 runs accolade, great achievement young man.

— Azhar Mahmood (@AzharMahmood11) August 23, 2020

Nice Azhar Ali👍👍👍👍

— Ian bishop (@irbishi) August 23, 2020

Solid fighting 100 by @AzharAli_ & great support by @iMRizwanPak .
Keep going guys. #ENGvPAK

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) August 23, 2020

Every 100 has a special place in a players heart but this 💯 by Azhar is a Dressing Room respect earner! 👏👏👏

— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) August 23, 2020

💯 for Azhar Ali 👏 🎉

A tremendous effort from the Pakistan skipper 🇵🇰 #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/7cjzihqij1

— ICC (@ICC) August 23, 2020

.@wasimakramlive is spot on. We get very impatient when it comes to cricket and demand results after two games. Azhar Ali for instance has 2 centuries in last 5 Tests and averaging around 50.00 in those games. Don't know why he gets so much criticism.

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 23, 2020

Best way to ease some pressure is to score runs,good on @AzharAli_ to score a 💯#ENGvsPAK

— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) August 23, 2020

Azhar Ali has just scored Pakistan's 400th Test century. Now the other race is on – their next duck will be Pakistan's 800th Test duck.

— Benedict Bermange (@Benedict_B) August 23, 2020

Azhar Ali's century is the 400th for Pakistan in Tests.
Rizwan is the first Pakistan wicket-keeper to reach 50 twice in a series against England.

— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) August 23, 2020

Azhar Ali's 17 Test hundreds:

in England (2)
in UAE (7)
in West Indies (2)
in Bangladesh (1)
in Australia (1)
in Sri Lanka (3)
in Pakistan (1)#Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) August 23, 2020

Really pleased for Azhar Ali. Congratulations on your fighting hundred. Always thought of him as a quality player.

— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) August 23, 2020

Superb innings from Azhar Ali. Under intense pressure and scrutiny, delivers a world class century to demonstrate his value. A lot more to do of course. But alongside Rizwan's irrepressible display, one of the rare moments of joy for Pakistan in this Test Match. #ENGvPAK

— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) August 23, 2020

Azhar Ali scores his 17th Test hundred and a timely one… pls don’t see it as a career saving one.. #he is a class batsman, established but was having a torrid time… one good innings will do him a world of good… much needed for the team..

— Shahid Hashmi (@hashmi_shahid) August 23, 2020