Pakistan’s veteran
batsman Azhar Ali believes that it is hard to play against opposition like
Zimbabwe.

The right-hander played a resilient 126-run knock on day one
of the second Test against the hosts in Harare on Friday.

While talking to the media in a virtual press conference at
the end of the day, the top-order batsman highlighted that success against a
team ranked lower means little whereas a failure is being highlighted over and
over again.

“Since I only play one format, it’s not too tough to motivate yourself,” said Azhar. “But there is a bit of pressure when you play Zimbabwe because if you do well, it is not recognised because it is against Zimbabwe but if you don’t do well, people say he can’t even score against Zimbabwe.”

Day two: Abid stands firm despite Zimbabwe’s three strikes

When asked why the team management did not opt to select
more youngsters in the playing XI for this fixture, Azhar admitted that the
lack of Test matches is making it hard to introduce new talent.

“I have been around for over seven to eight years and on
average we play eight to 10 Test matches a year,” he said. “So it is very
difficult to try out new players in the format.”