Azhar Ali gears up for first-ever county stint

Pakistan opening batsman Azhar Ali has signed a contract with English county Somerset for the remaining part of the season.

According to Daily Express, this will be the first time when the 33-year-old Ali will take part in a county stint.

Ali — who will leave for England on Monday — will feature in the remaining seven matches for the county side.

Earlier Head coach Mickey Arthur had encouraged Ali, along with middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq, to play county cricket because of lack of playing time for the duo in the upcoming months.

"Our chosen players, we're hoping to get Azhar and Asad to play some county cricket," said Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur, according to ESPNcricinfo. "There is a little bit of interest at the moment, for a short period of time. Because those guys don't go to these [T20] leagues and stuff, if they were to play county cricket we'd certainly encourage that."