Is the writing on the wall for Sarfaraz Ahmed as an international cricketer?

[MenInG]

Despite being a semi-final leading captain, he has been not included for the series vs Zimbabwe.

On top of that, PCB have told him to go back to domestic cricket and prove himself.

Is that a hint in itself?

==

PCB release on selection for Zimbabwe series:

Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was part of the squad for the England tour, has been encouraged to feature in the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, starting 25 October, so that he rediscovers better form ahead of the New Zealand tour.

 

[Hasan123]

His international career should be done. He is too old to be a back up. We should look to develop a back up and long term replacement for Rizwan now. Rohail looks like he could be that person.

 

[Markhor]

It's the same answer I gave in the Shoaib Malik thread - you can never, ever rule out a senior Pakistani player's return until they are retired.

We are the kings of recycling senior cricketers.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Rizwan and Rohail are the future. Sarfaraz should first be told thank you for your excellent contributions to Pakistan cricket, and then he should be told thank you very much.

 

[Mir jibran]

It's the same answer I gave in the Shoaib Malik thread - you can never, ever rule out a senior Pakistani player's return until they are retired.

We are the kings of recycling senior cricketers.

Sadly they all take inspiration from misbahs career and they think 45 is the new 37 for retiring

 

[SARJ_BD]

Sarfraz do not merit a spot. Did nothing in National t20 Cup, did nothing in international cricket.
The only trait Sarfraz has is that he is from Karachi or Sindh

 

[sweep_shot]

I think he is finished. Rizwan seems like a more permanent and long-term option.

 

[Titan24]

He doesnt fit in any format currently. He was really good during his purple patch especially in home tests but I think we have much better options available. He is 33 and the main keeper Rizwan is 28 so no point in having a 30+ player as his backup.

 

[shamaan]

His career is over he should focus on doesmtic and foreign touanements

 

[shamaan]

His international career should be done. He is too old to be a back up. We should look to develop a back up and long term replacement for Rizwan now. Rohail looks like he could be that person.

Zeeshan Ashraf should have been in the squad

 

[shamaan]

Rizwan and Rohail are the future. Sarfaraz should first be told thank you for your excellent contributions to Pakistan cricket, and then he should be told thank you very much.

Rohail is the future but zeeshan Ashraf should have been in the squad vs Zimbabwe

 

[JibranAnsari]

I am afraid that tbats it for him , he was one of the best influences on our test team for a couple of years and will always be remembered for champions trophy victory

 

[Titan24]

Zeeshan Ashraf should have been in the squad

He definitely has a good power game. As per Misbah he needs to work on his fitness like Sharjeel and Azam.

 

[Saj]

Always sad to see a guy who took Pakistan to an ICC Trophy win struggling, but he looks like a spent force.

He was always a bundle of energy irrespective of his form. These days that energy isn't there. He's like a cricketer who is going through the motions.

 

[RickyG]

Unless he rediscovers some form there is no international future there. Even when his keeping is decent, his batting just isn't the same.

Rizwan has also made the keeper spot his own so that doesn't help.

I like Sarfraz but he needs to show form in domestic cricket to even be considered a back up to Rizwan. Until then identifying alternative and future long-term prospects like Rohail is the way to go.

Also selecting him against Zimbabwe would have achieved nothing.

 

[shujaatraza]

Sarfaraz is where Kamran Akmal was 5 years ago. Akmal became a domestic bully, I hope Sarfaraz becomes one too.

 

[coy0607]

Sarfaraz has not been part of PCT in a significant capacity in almost a year and a half (post captaincy).

Arguably the best domestic captain in Pakistan. But I doubt we'll see much of him in internationals - maybe the odd T20 every few months

 

[ExplicitAI]

Very sad to see how his career turned out, was a super motivated cricketer and good tactician who managed to bring the best out of our cricket in T20's but that CT win got to his head and stopped working hard. His batting went downhill in all formats, I remember how he used to struggle with the bat before 2014, but when Adnan Akmal got injured and he took his place he was tearing up a lot of bowling attacks with such ease. A lesson from here should be that one should never get too ahead of himself once he achieves success.

 

[Usman]

In March 2019, Mohammed Rizwaan scored two ODI hundreds against Australia. At that point, I was arguing for his selection in the World Cup team. Most fans however said Rizwaan was one dimensional and that Sarfraz was a better option. Now a year and a half on, the penny is finally dropping with fans and selectors alike.

There was a time that Sarfraz was an absolute genius with the bat. His fighting qualities meant he was the first proper batsman-keeper we ever had - he was far superior to Moin Khan for example. However Sarfraz's star faded away after the Champions Trophy win.

Can Sarfraz rediscover is touch? Possibly. But with Rizwaan performing the way he has (mashallah!), the chances of Sarfraz securing a permanent spot in the team are looking slim.

 

[Nadeemp]

Put a fork in him.

 

[prakash]

I remember him for this in India-Pakistan WC match. Just kidding

 

[Savak]

Always sad to see a guy who took Pakistan to an ICC Trophy win struggling, but he looks like a spent force.

He was always a bundle of energy irrespective of his form. These days that energy isn't there. He's like a cricketer who is going through the motions.

I suspect he could be older than his official age. He is to blame for his present predicament. He let complacency get the better off him from 2017 onwards and was a shadow of the fittest player in the team that he looked from 2014 to 2016.

He doesn't have an ODI or T20 powergame, his keeping is also unreliable. He has now basically become a TTF

 

[Savak]

You have to give credit to Rizwan. He kept on working hard on his fitness, keeping and he said he had worked hard on his batting, stroke play and power hitting and he now comfortably appears to be the better option than Sarfaraz making it very easy for the selectors to make the obvious decision

 

[shamaan]

He definitely has a good power game. As per Misbah he needs to work on his fitness like Sharjeel and Azam.

Has misbah stated this ?

 

[shamaan]

Sad to see the decline off sarfraz but it's time to hang him boots up in international.We now have a very good keeper Bateman who could be world class in a years time I hope he improves his power hitting for the t20 format

 

[Titan24]

Has misbah stated this ?

"Sharjeel Khan, Azam Khan and Zeeshan Ashraf will be added to a specialized fitness program, Misbah added".

As per the article on the announcement. So he said that in his presser.

 

[GudduBadmash]

You have a world class wicket keeper batsman for all three formats in Mohammad Rizwan. Sarfaraz is not required at any capacity anymore.

It may be a bitter pill to swallow for his fans and the journalists from the area but should think about the betterment of the national team.

 

[Junaids]

In the Test world championship decider in the West Indies in 1988, Saleem Yousuf was Pakistan’s wicketkeeper - and the third best batsman.

Two years later, Imran Khan replaced him with Moin Khan in the return series in Pakistan.

Moin Khan was the same age as Rohail Nazir.

Saleem Yousuf was three years younger than Sarfraz Ahmed is now.

 

[shamaan]

"Sharjeel Khan, Azam Khan and Zeeshan Ashraf will be added to a specialized fitness program, Misbah added".

As per the article on the announcement. So he said that in his presser.

That's really good stuff excellent move thankyou

 

[Abdullah719]

131* for Sindh in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

 

[Firebat]

131* for Sindh in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

Sindh captain Sarfaraz Ahmed recorded his 12th first-class century with an unbeaten 131 against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the UBL Sports Complex. The wicketkeeper-batsman dispatched eight off the 232 balls he faced towards the boundary after resuming the day at 68 to put his team in a commanding position.

 

[Firebat]

Highlights of his 131:

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/cdg8ja" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>

 

[Babar_Azam_fan]

What next for Sarfraz Ahmed?

It looks(as Mamoon said) Sarfraz came to NZ just to witness the end of his career


With Rizwan playing the way he’s been and Rohail doing it for the Shaheens, I think there’s not much hope left for Sarfraz


And Rohail and Rizwan are even captaining the sides.

I think this tour was like a final nail in the coffin. From being captain of all three formats to watching your career being put to rest from the dug out is some journey.

 

[Shoaib88]

Sarfraz Ahmed won the champions trophy against all odds and by giving India a spanking of a lifetime. He celebrated this by the "Mauka Mauka" song when he arrived back home with the trophy. So now, he can just keep relishing those memories because there's no way he's going to come back in the team.

 

[TeymurBlake]

Sarfraz Ahmed has been nothing but warming the bench and hopefully does it for a couple one or two series more. Rohail Nazir still has a few more things to learn and him playing Pakistan Shaheens and domestic games would be better rather than sitting on the bench.

 

[shamaan]

I think sarfraz should stil be around the squad for atleast 2 series rohail should continue playing in the shaheens as theirs no chance he can replace rizwan as a wicket keeper bateman.

 

[gazza619]

Sarfaraz cant possibly bat any worse than Abid Shan & Haris. We need to take advantage of his batting skills.

 

[ElRaja]

supporters should be happy that pak have depth in test match keeping, rizwan, sarfraz, and rohail, a world class keeper, a decent back up and a talented youngster.

nothing wrong with being a squad player for sarfraz.

 

[Hasan123]

Rizwan ending Sarfraz career right in front of his eyes.

 

[moghul]

I have no idea what Sarfraz and Wahab Riaz are doing in New Zealand ?

Forget about Rizwan, even Rohail is much better keeper and batsman than Sarfraz .

 

[Slim]

supporters should be happy that pak have depth in test match keeping, rizwan, sarfraz, and rohail, a world class keeper, a decent back up and a talented youngster.

nothing wrong with being a squad player for sarfraz.

Agreed - back in the day it was Sarfraz and no one. We have three quality options now.

 

[Rana]

Sarfaraz cant possibly bat any worse than Abid Shan & Haris. We need to take advantage of his batting skills.

Good point. NZ have also got both Latham and Watling in the side. The problem is we don’t know if Sarfaraz is any useful in the field

 

[GudduBadmash]

He is finished. No need to have him in the side. Rizwan is a far superior athlete, batsman and wicket keeper than this guy.

We already have one supremely unfit batsman in Haris, don't need another

 

[Saj]

Sat around on the sidelines in New Zealand carrying towels and drinks and playing the role of a cheerleader.

Things not looking great for him at all.

The think tank should start grooming Rohail as Rizwan's backup.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Good riddance.

 

[Kroll]

Sarfraz's own fault for becoming complacent.

 

[Shazzam]

He should be a regular in twenty20s. Or play Rohail there

 

[topspin]

Sarfraz's own fault for becoming complacent.

Yep he sure was complacement. I still remember how he was dancing around his balcony and singing mauka mauka after winning the CT.

The way he put on weight due to his lack of focus on his diet and fitness, it was as if he thought he had become unsackable after winning the trophy.

 

[shujaatraza]

Sarfaraz Ahmed going back to domestic is also not a good thing. He will be blocking a keeper spot in Sindh’s team in place of someone else and with him having no future with Pakistan’s team

 

[El Generico]

Yep he sure was complacement. I still remember how he was dancing around his balcony and singing mauka mauka after winning the CT.

The way he put on weight due to his lack of focus on his diet and fitness, it was as if he thought he had become unsackable after winning the trophy.

People celebrate after winning that’s a human thing. Other cricketers haven’t celebrated?

Yeah he got complacent about his fitness and deserved to be dropped but that has nothing to do with post CT celebrations.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

He is finished. No need to have him in the side. Rizwan is a far superior athlete, batsman and wicket keeper than this guy.

We already have one supremely unfit batsman in Haris, don't need another

What is Rizwan's record in ICC tournaments? One thing getting a half century in a quiet NZ bilateral and another delivering in tourneys like Sarfraz has done.

Sarfraz is a tournament winning captain, he should have been better protected and helped to get his form back. This is where our management are dinosaurs and don't know how to manage athletes and keep them in top mental condition. Just allow them to deteriorate and then discard them, how do you expect players to create a legacy like this?

He is a clutch T20/ODI batter who can open. I have seen him rescue the team a number of times. I just think we are too quick to discard players.

 

[Ayubhbaloch]

Sarfaraz Ahmed Future?

Will Management will continue with him or will he be dropped?

 

[moghul]

No future in cricket.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

This management is clueless, so you never know..
Anything can happen in pakistan cricket.. wouldnt be even surprised if he is back as captain lol

 

[Hasan123]

Hopefully he doesn’t come back. Even his main 3 fans don’t post on PP.

 

[Bhaijaan]

From captaining the side to being reduced to a drinks carrying extra. How sad.

 

[Hyperion66]

He probably would go on to have a longer and decent career if he did not win the CT. Nature has a way of balancing things out and it ain't pretty.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Hopefully he doesn’t come back. Even his main 3 fans don’t post on PP.

One poor year for Rizwan which i think have started with his drop catches and Rohail not stepping up to the task at intl level will see sarfraz back in action... Wouldnt be surprised ppl calling his name to be back here including you lol

Btw im not the main fan...

 

[Hasan123]

One poor year for Rizwan which i think have started with his drop catches and Rohail not stepping up to the task at intl level will see sarfraz back in action... Wouldnt be surprised ppl calling his name to be back here including you lol

Btw im not the main fan...

I will never ask for Sarfraz to be recalled. And Rizwan will be backed as he is vice captain and has shown he is a top class keeper batsmen.

 

[Khan12]

What is Rizwan's record in ICC tournaments? One thing getting a half century in a quiet NZ bilateral and another delivering in tourneys like Sarfraz has done.

Sarfraz is a tournament winning captain, he should have been better protected and helped to get his form back. This is where our management are dinosaurs and don't know how to manage athletes and keep them in top mental condition. Just allow them to deteriorate and then discard them, how do you expect players to create a legacy like this?

He is a clutch T20/ODI batter who can open. I have seen him rescue the team a number of times. I just think we are too quick to discard players.

Lol. What rubbish.

 

[Savak]

Sarfaraz has only himself to blame. He used to be the fittest and most energetic player in the team especially when it came to running between the wickets and his keeping from 2014 to 2016, but from 2017 onwards especially since the CT victory, he completely let himself go and his career has never recovered since

 

[topspin]

People celebrate after winning that’s a human thing. Other cricketers haven’t celebrated?

Yeah he got complacent about his fitness and deserved to be dropped but that has nothing to do with post CT celebrations.

The only reason why you're being defensive of him is because you're from the same place in Pakistan.

 

[Shazzam]

The only reason why you're being defensive of him is because you're from the same place in Pakistan.

Thats a poor argument. Sarfraz has fans outside of Pakistan. His hyper aggressive approach to his captaincy was pretty much appreciated. The poster is right his celebration after that win had nothing to do with his poor performance after.

 

[El Generico]

The only reason why you're being defensive of him is because you're from the same place in Pakistan.

I literally said he should have been dropped. However your point about his celebration is nonsensical. Sarfraz is a human and humans celebrate after they achieve something. Is that concept new to you? Do you think Sarfraz is the only cricketer in the world who has celebrated?

 

[shamaan]

One poor year for Rizwan which i think have started with his drop catches and Rohail not stepping up to the task at intl level will see sarfraz back in action... Wouldnt be surprised ppl calling his name to be back here including you lol

Btw im not the main fan...

How many catches did he drop ?

 

[shamaan]

i think he should hes not going to get many games.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Imagined getting bullied by the media during the wc for your pait then being replaced by Azam Khan.

 

[topspin]

I literally said he should have been dropped. However your point about his celebration is nonsensical. Sarfraz is a human and humans celebrate after they achieve something. Is that concept new to you? Do you think Sarfraz is the only cricketer in the world who has celebrated?

Did you actually see how he was celebrating whilst he was standing on the balcony at his home. The way he was singing mauka mauka made it clear in my mind that this success got to his head. From here on in Sarfraz was no longer the focused cricketer that he used to be. I knew at this point his career would take downhill spiral and I was proven correct. If India had won that final, you wouldn't have seen Kohli conduct himself like this.


Just face it your cricketers like him and Shafiq are garbage stuff. All I hear is the typical victim mentality stuff.

 

[topspin]

Did you actually see how he was celebrating whilst he was standing on the balcony at his home. The way he was singing mauka mauka made it clear in my mind that this success got to his head. From here on in Sarfraz was no longer the focused cricketer that he used to be. I knew at this point his career would take downhill spiral and I was proven correct. If India had won that final, you wouldn't have seen Kohli conduct himself like this.


Just face it your cricketers like him and Shafiq are garbage stuff. All I hear is the typical victim mentality stuff.

[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION] Interested to get your thoughts, if you recall the scenes we witnessed when Sarfraz went OTT with his celebrations at his home and singing mauka mauka.

 

[pillionrider]

On the bright side, he ranks in the Top 5 or 6 in test cricket for strike rate among batsmen with 2000 or more runs

 

[Finisher]

It was over for him when in the form of his life, he moved to the lower order to accommodate Hafeez

 

[ManFan]

He had it all and lost it all, all by HIMSELF.

 

[Mobashir]

Did you actually see how he was celebrating whilst he was standing on the balcony at his home. The way he was singing mauka mauka made it clear in my mind that this success got to his head. From here on in Sarfraz was no longer the focused cricketer that he used to be. I knew at this point his career would take downhill spiral and I was proven correct. If India had won that final, you wouldn't have seen Kohli conduct himself like this.


Just face it your cricketers like him and Shafiq are garbage stuff. All I hear is the typical victim mentality stuff.

I can't imagine you being serious about the story you are telling, but you actually are quite serious about it.
Good luck to people debating against you on this!

 

[El Generico]

Did you actually see how he was celebrating whilst he was standing on the balcony at his home. The way he was singing mauka mauka made it clear in my mind that this success got to his head. From here on in Sarfraz was no longer the focused cricketer that he used to be. I knew at this point his career would take downhill spiral and I was proven correct. If India had won that final, you wouldn't have seen Kohli conduct himself like this.


Just face it your cricketers like him and Shafiq are garbage stuff. All I hear is the typical victim mentality stuff.

My cricketers? What does that even mean? Take your regional politics some where else man.I have been calling for Asad Shafiq to be dropped for ages.

As for the celebration, how Sarfaraz celebrated is no different to how other cricketers have celebrated in victory parades. It has nothing to do with his downfall. Anyways I am done arguing with you it seems like you are obsessed with regions and I don’t want to waste my time with that crap.

 

[observer1]

He was a solid captain and batsman before he struggled under captaincy for all three formats.

Selective memory seems make people forget how reliable hdme was/is. It's not easy captaining the International team and losing Misbah and Younis Khan.

Hopefully he came come good.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

How many catches did he drop ?

You come back when he has a poor year, since he is enjoying his purple patch now and scoring fifty every inns, once he stops scoring fifties every inns and had one or two series like Shan then will see what comes next.

Pak fans are very impatient to any lean patches for the players, with the expectations being so high , they criticise them for every bad scores or series. Just the amount of criticism Fakhar and Imam faced here even after avg 50+ is a highlight.. they tend to quickly forget that they had shehzad in that role just before Imam and Fakhar

 

[ask_analyse_act]

I said it long time back when he was appointed captain for tests. Azhar Ali was more deserving to be the test captain at that point of time when Sarfraz was appointed.

Azhar Ali as an opener was having an excellent run with 100 in England, 200 in Australia, 300 in UAE.. since the Misbah Younis retirement he was pulled back to no.3 and captaincy was given to Sarfraz which turned out to be a bad move in teams perspective as both of them start going downhill from there onwards.

 

[ManFan]

Sarfraz had a purple patch in 2014-2015.

After that, he was a walking wicket and decent keeper.

His selections were lazy and let’s not forget, his captaincy skills were terrible.

His tactics were abhorrent, man-management overly-aggressive against juniors and obsequious towards seniors, and his PR skills were equivalent to that of someone who has never been in front of a camera. From “Pathan-wala shots” to the Andelukwayo incident, it was embarrassing on a grand scale.

 

[Hasan123]

[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION] Interested to get your thoughts, if you recall the scenes we witnessed when Sarfraz went OTT with his celebrations at his home and singing mauka mauka.

There is nothing wrong with him celebrating, one thing I didn’t like is when he said India are scared to play us. It showed his lack of intelligence and arrogance.

 

[shamaan]

You come back when he has a poor year, since he is enjoying his purple patch now and scoring fifty every inns, once he stops scoring fifties every inns and had one or two series like Shan then will see what comes next.

Pak fans are very impatient to any lean patches for the players, with the expectations being so high , they criticise them for every bad scores or series. Just the amount of criticism Fakhar and Imam faced here even after avg 50+ is a highlight.. they tend to quickly forget that they had shehzad in that role just before Imam and Fakhar

His first job is to wicket keep then the runs come after. Even with just the gloves not including batting hes much better than sarfraz.but he should only play tests and maybe odis.I WONT COME BACK when he has a a poor time with the bat as everyone goes throw a lean patch and they need to be backed pluss only rohail is only decent prospect in tests unless you knoe anyone else