Azhar Ali needs to tame old demons again

The captain is under pressure. You can't remember when he came up with a knock of substance. He looks short of confidence every time he walks out to bat. He barely lasts while at the crease and the team's results aren't inspiring either.

The reasons for Sarfaraz Ahmed's removal, right? Sure, but we're talking of Azhar Ali here.

The number of times Pakistan cricket puts itself into these positions is maddeningly numerous. Sarfaraz's lack of personal form and the team's alarming slide across formats had become a serious problem in the last year or so of his captaincy, each series increasing pressure on the PCB to act. But the reason the wicketkeeper batsman managed to stay on for so long is also the reason Pakistan find themselves in this uncomfortable position, having finally pulled the trigger on Sarfaraz's reign last month. Namely that there was no perfect choice to replace him.

It isn't fair to critique the PCB for lack of action, and then ramp it up when action is taken, but acknowledging that doesn't make the predicament go away. In February 2017, the PCB had persuaded Azhar to step down from the ODI captaincy, which he'd assumed following the 2015 World Cup. He had previously rejected calls from then-chairman Shahryar Khan to step down following Pakistan's 4-1 ODI series loss in England in 2016. Pakistan slipped to a record-low ninth under his stewardship in the ODI rankings, and when he finally did resign, Shahryar Khan told ESPNcricinfo he had done so because he "believed his batting is being affected because of the extra burden of leadership".

Here we are again in a similar situation, where a captain has been removed for lack of form, only to be replaced by someone from whom the captaincy was taken away because he admitted to it affecting his batting.

Three years is a long time in cricket, and first stints aren't necessarily faithful indicators - like Arjuna Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to their maiden World Cup win in his second. But to try to resolve a problem by putting someone in charge historically susceptible to the same vulnerability is, shall we say, not risk-averse decision-making.

Azhar's previous series came in South Africa at the start of the year. Now, Pakistan rarely ever do well there but it was striking how poorly Azhar, arguably Pakistan's biggest batting hope for the tour, came out of it. No recognised batsman from either side (except Fakhar Zaman, who was dropped after two Tests and Zubayr Hamza who played just one) scored fewer runs than Azhar's 59 in three Tests - 36 of which came in one innings.

Duanne Olivier gobbled him up for breakfast, lunch and dinner, dismissing him with the short ball four times in six innings. At the end of the series, Olivier even said he felt "a bit sorry" for Azhar. Damaging enough to his reputation?

Not quite, because the next time Pakistan would line up for a Test, he would lead them out. It happened in Australia last month, where once again it was an opportunity lost to prove South Africa had been an aberration. He managed all of 62 runs in four innings, out to the quicks in all four innings.

In Rawalpindi, in conditions near-ideal for batting under no pressure on the final day of a Test dominated by rain, he inched nervously to 36 in 134 minutes before a tame scoop to short midwicket. In that timeframe, Abid Ali had brought up his 50, while it took Babar Azam just ten more minutes to reach a hundred. Azhar has now gone 12 innings without a half-century for the Pakistan; in eight of them, he hasn't managed double figures. Sarfaraz, in his last 12 Test innings, scored 281 runs at 25.55 with three fifties. Azhar, in his last dozen, has 162 runs at 13.50.

Further complicating matters for the PCB is the circumstances in which Azhar Ali was granted the captaincy. Upon his unveiling as Pakistan's new captain, the 34-year old revealed he had only accepted the job on the condition it would be a long-term appointment, with the PCB acquiescing to that demand, and assuring him "there's enough time to prove myself and implement my ideas onto the team".

That is in contrast to the arrangement the PCB maintained with Sarfaraz Ahmed, whose position as captain was renewed on a series-by-series basis, revealing the trust the board placed in Azhar's leadership of the red-ball side. While the series in South Africa and Australia could still charitably be interpreted as out of kilter with Azhar's stellar career record, a no-show in the second Test against Sri Lanka will only add to the pressure the Pakistan captain finds himself in. It is the same pressure that did for him last time around when, arguably, Sarfaraz was a more obvious successor-in-waiting than Azhar has been this time around.

When he was appointed, Azhar said this was his chance to build his legacy. The long-term view has been all-too-often a sight unseen in Pakistan cricket, but whether Azhar has the luxury of turning his attention to it now could well depend on his short-term performances.