It Will Be A Difficult Challenge For Sarfaraz Ahmed To Sit On The Bench: Rashid Latif

Sarfaraz Ahmed’s career has not really panned out in an expected manner in the last one year or so. The world was at his feet when he led Pakistan to their first-ever Champions Trophy glory in 2017. Later, he also led the side to the number one ranking in T20Is.

However, he could not do well both as a batsman and a captain last year before being dropped from the team and removed as captain across formats. Under his captaincy, Pakistan failed to make it past the group stage at the 2019 World Cup and his poor batting displays only made things worse for him.

And when a second-string Sri Lankan side whitewashed Pakistan in a 3-0 T20I series in their own backyard, Pakistan ran out of patience. Sarfaraz Ahmed not only lost his captaincy across formats, he was also dropped from the team for the tour of Australia and the home series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batsman is currently fighting for his place in the playing XI. He was recently named in the 29-man squad for Pakistan’s tour of England. Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and three T20Is in England in August-September. Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq has already said that the team’s first choice keeper will be the young Mohammad Rizwan.

And as Sarfaraz Ahmed gears up to warm the bench in England, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif feels Ahmed might find it difficult to sit on the bench after leading the team for so many years. He also said that Sarfaraz Ahmed is likely to be the first choice in the T20Is.

“Sarfaraz will be Pakistan’s first-choice wicket-keeper in T20Is and second-choice in Tests. Rizwan’s performances in Test matches have been really good so far. So I don’t think Sarfaraz will be preferred over Rizwan in Test cricket,” Latif was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

“The reason for taking Sarfaraz along is because they had to pick a bigger squad as the team will be in quarantine initially due to the pandemic.

“It will be a difficult challenge for Sarfaraz to sit on the bench after leading Pakistan for three to four years and winning titles like Champions Trophy for the country. However, it is not impossible and I expect him to fight and overcome this tough task,” he added.

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