Test men get last chance to boost form ahead of Australia series.

Byline: Khalid H. Khan

KARACHI -- Newly-appointed PakisAtan captain Azhar Ali is among seven players who will be hoping to have a decent run as red-ball cricket resumes after a 20-day gap with the fifth-round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy's First Xi competition starting from Monday.

With Pakistan slated to face the might of Australia in a two-match Test series from Nov 21, Azhar will be hoping to travel Down Under with his batting form intact after being among the runs in the previous four rounds while leading Central Punjab to the top of six-team standings.

The 34-year-old right-handed Azhar lies second behind championship's top run-getter Ashfaq Ahmed - who has amassed 473 runs with the aid of three centuries at a staggering average of 157.66 for third-placed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - with a tally of 388 runs (ave 77.60), figures which include two centuries.

However, Azhar has opted to relinquish the captaincy for Central Punjab's fixture against Sindh at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad chiefly because he won't be available for the rest of domestic first-class season since he would be involved in the Tests at Brisbane (Nov 21-25) and Adelaide (day/night game, Nov 29-Dec 3). Vice-captain Ahmed Shehzad, thus, takes over the Central Punjab leadership.

In the previous four rounds saw as many as 29 three-figure individual knocks being scored but Pakistan batsman Asad Shafiq has still to score a hundred this season. The diminutive right-hander has made just 254 runs (ave 63.50) with a best of 81 - against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Karachi - in four matches for Sindh.

Sindh are expected to be led by their appointed skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, who was not only recently sacked as Pakistan Test and T20 captain but was not included in the either squad for the Australia tour. The wicket-keeper/batsman's solitary appearance in the competition was the first-round game against Balochistan at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi.

In-form Pakistan opener Abid Ali, who has the honour of notching up the highest individual score - a career-best unbeaten 249 for Sindh against Balochistan in round one - would be eyeing another big score to boost his confidence before heading off to Australia, while hoping to win his maiden Test cap.

Abid's Sindh team-mate Kashif Bhatti, the 33-year-old slow left-armer from Nawabshah, will be desperate for a rich haul before embarking on his first tour with the national side. He has thus far bagged 10 wickets at a decent return of 27.40 in...