Azhar Ali backs Misbah, says virus-affected World Test Championship should be extended

Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali has backed head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq's suggestion that coronavirus-affected World Test Championship should be extended in wake of global pandemic. He believes cricketing action should return in future "even it is behind closed doors" but without compromising on health of players. "If, hopefully, in near future cricket is possible and health of people is t compromised, I'm sure every cricketer will say we should get cricket back on, even if it is behind closed doors," Ali said in a video conference with reporters.  "re is sport on TV right w that people can watch. y will be happy to get sport back on TV. People's health is more important, but if we can get sport going without imperilling that, I'd support it."

Azhar Ali backs Misbah

Ali is confident that world body ICC will do needful. 

"I'm sure ICC will look at this. Test Championship was a long competition anyway, so I don't think it would be a big deal to extend it if series cant be held in time; I'd support extending Test championship," he added.

Azhar's statement came after Misbah called for an extension of World Test Championship as and when cricket resumes in order to provide a fair and equal playing field to all teams. 

forced break in cricketing calendar has allowed Ali to look back on his nascent captaincy tenure, which started only in last October when he replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed.  So far Ali has witnessed a mixed outing as captain, which includes a 0-2 loss in Australia, followed by a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka at home and a comprehensive victory over Sri Lanka in first Test at Rawalpindi before series was called off because of pandemic.  "I did want to bring fresh ideas into team when appointed, and remove fear factor that players have," he said. 

" players should feel free to express mselves. In a team culture, captain bears great responsibility for sort of culture y develop. I want to ensure that regardless of wher I'm in dressing room or t, environment is such that everyone thinks about good of team. 

"Just as important, we want dressing room to be a relaxed, t a tense place. We've seen - and t just in Pakistan - that when team is under pressure, dressing room becomes a very tense place. Decision-making is affected by tension and pressure," Ali added. 

Im credits: AP