I Loved Working With Sarfaraz Ahmed: Mickey Arthur

Former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur recently opened up about his experience of working alongside former skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Arthur, whose stint as Pakistan’s head coach ended with the Men in Green’s disappointing 2019 World Cup campaign, recently appeared on former Pakistan opener Aamir Sohail’s Youtube channel, where he said that thoroughly enjoyed working with Sarfaraz Ahmed.

During his captaincy stint, Sarfaraz Ahmed, to the outsiders, came across as a strict disciplinarian on the field but Mickey Arthur said that there was a completely different side of the stumper that was on full show when he was in the dressing room.

“I was very privileged to work with Graeme Smith and Michael Clarke. They were very good leader of men. Sarfaraz had something I hadn’t seen before. He had the ability to be an authoritative voice, like a disciplinarian on the field, but when he came into the dressing room, he transformed into a brother to the guys. He had that.” Mickey Arthur said.

“People say what happened on the field, like his movements, but they didn’t see the other side of Sarfaraz in the dressing room. He was a very popular leader inside the changing room, and I loved working with him.” he added.

Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz Ahmed led Pakistan to several heists amid excruciating lows

Under the captain-coach duo of Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur, Pakistan Cricket achieved several highs which include the 2017 Champions Trophy win, where they beat arch-rivals India by a margin of 180 runs to lift the title and becoming the No,1 ranked T20I side in the world.

However, post the 2017 Champions Trophy heist, Pakistan underwent a sharp dip in their fortunes in ODI cricket and the fact Sarfaraz Ahmed’s batting too went through a decline, did not help the latter’s cause either.

After Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, Mickey Arthur was replaced by the current coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who also assumed the position of national selector.

In Misbah’s maiden stint, Pakistan suffered a shocking 0-3 whitewash in the T20I series at home against a second-string Sri Lankan team, and that proved to be a death-knell for Sarfaraz Ahmed-the captain- as he was not only stripped of the leadership role from all formats but he was also dumped from the set-up and relegated to the second-choice keeper.

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