Ending the series in England with a great hundred in the third Test in Southampton, Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali said he did feel the pressure while going through the run-drought before this match but added that there was never any serious consideration of giving up the captaincy.
Azhar responded to heavy criticism on his form and leadership with an outstanding knock of 141, an innings reminding everyone of his quality, which helped Pakistan escape and end the series only 1-0 down.
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When asked after the Test whether he felt like reducing his burden by handing over the leadership badge to someone else and focussing solely on resurrecting a declining career, the 35-year-old answered in the negative.
"No, I remained focussed on this series. This consideration never entered my mind. Yes there was pressure but I was focussed on my performances," he said, with his second-innings stay of 114 balls for 31 runs also helping Pakistan bat out a draw.
Azhar made a swift technical change before the start, opening up his stance a touch to allow the bat to come down straighter and not leave him as much of an LBW candidate as before.
"When a player has runs under his belt he has a comfort level, but when the opposition has worked on you, it not easy to make changes to your technique in a series. In 2016 also I faced problems in England. But I modified my stance and it worked for me," he said.
The captain said he respects outside opinions, which he has had plenty coming his way over the course of the series, but stressed he is always in the better position to pre-assess those moves.
"As captain only I know what is the situation on the field, what is going on in the mind of the bowlers, what the bowler is thinking, things that people sitting outside don't know."
"Everyone has their opinion and I respect them but as captain you know that in certain circumstances you couldn't have done that. But I give value to everyone's opinion but it is true it is different for people who are on the spot and taking decisions."
"On the spot as captain, you assess and take decisions according to match conditions and according to the condition and mental state of players."
This was Pakistan's first Test series loss in the UK since the start of this decade. The visitors got only 26 World Test Championship points out of two draws, as opposed to England which bagged 66 for also winning the first Test in Manchester.
Azhar knows his team came one timely wicket on Day 4 at the Old Trafford short of reversing the points equation. England found itself 117/5 in the difficult chase of 277. Yet, the hosts prevailed at the end by three wickets.
"We are disappointed at not being able to win the series. We came here to not only draw the series but to win it. We got our opportunity but missed it. Credit also goes to England; they took advantage of opportunities," said Azhar who, however, was pleased with the way his team kept the morale up despite that painful loss in the first game.
"Teams fall apart but the good thing is this didn't happen to us and we remained as a group and fought back in the next Test," he signed off.
(Inputs from PTI)
