Misbah-Ul-Haq Reveals Sarfaraz Ahmed's Fate Ahead Of The England Tour
Published - 25 May 2020, 09:32 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:29 AM
Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed hasn’t enjoyed a good few months. Not only did he lose his captaincy late last year, but also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) demoted him to Grade C in their central contracts list. As the PCB announced that their team would visit England for Test and limited-overs games, Misbah-Ul-Haq had his take on Sarfaraz Ahmed’s inclusion.
It was after Sri Lanka emerged victorious in the T20I series by 0-3 at home that the 32-year old lost his leadership position. Pioneer batsman Babar Azam has taken charge of the white-ball teams. On the other hand, Azhar Ali took the reins of the Test team. While Babar hasn’t experienced a fruitful time as T20 captain, he could hold his head high as a player amid Pakistan’s inconsistencies across formats. The 25-year old is yet to start his tenure as ODI skipper having been given the position a few weeks ago.
Coach and chief selector Misbah-Ul-Haq spoke on a host of topics in an interview to Youtube channel Cricket Baaz. He opined that conducting the T20 World Cup in Australia would be the best way to make cricket noticeable once it resumes internationally. However, the much-awaited discussion had to be about Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Sarfaraz Ahmed is very much in our plans: Misbah
The cricketer-turned coach said firmly that the keeper-batsman would be picked for the England tour even though he is the second choice after Mohammad Rizwan. The 45-year old went on to say that it makes sense to take two glovemen since due to the unfavourable conditions, it would be difficult to find a replacement.
“Yes it makes sense to take two keepers on this tour because where will we find a replacement in those conditions. Sarfaraz is obviously our choice.” the former Pakistan captain said as quoted by Times Now.
Talking about him being stripped from the captaincy position, Misbah addressed it by mentioning that it was essential to give Sarfaraz a break since they felt his batting was getting impacted due to leadership. The chief of selectors feels glad that the former skipper has worked on his fitness and asserted that he is very much in the scheme of things.
“I felt that as time progressed Sarfaraz was feeling more pressure more so because of his own form which was suffering. It was a decision to give him a break so that he could rest and make a strong comeback. I am happy to see that he has worked very hard on his fitness and game. He is very much in our plans.”
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