Sarfaraz Ahmed's captaincy was criminally underrated in a team with a severe dearth of leaders

[Abdullah719]

https://www.brecorder.com/2019/11/04/541168/sarfaraz-ahmed-captaincy-obituary/

Sarfaraz Ahmed's stint as captain has come to an end and it is highly probable that the same can be said for his international career. While the Pakistan team under a new management setup is occupied with the ongoing tour of Australia, Sarfaraz has been left to contemplate where his playing career will go from here. Here, we pause and take a look a back at a career that achieved more than most ever did in a green shirt, as well as where we go from here with two new captains and one supreme commander in the latest, gripping episode of the drama that is Pakistani cricket.

Early struggles and breakthrough

Sarfaraz first came to prominence in 2006 when he led Pakistan to victory in the Under-19 World Cup beating arch-rivals India in a gripping final. His leadership capabilities were evident from an early age and the experience would undoubtedly serve him well in the later stages of his career. His performance earned him a call-up to the national side the following year, however between 2007 and 2011 he struggled to dislodge Kamran Akmal as the team's incumbent wicket-keeper. Kamran's erratic form with the bat and more so behind the stumps, saw Sarfaraz come back into the side and make his first impression at the senior level when he played a match-winning knock in the 2012 Asia Cup final. Even then it was not until 2014 when Sarfaraz finally cemented his place in the national side after coming in for the injured Adnan Akmal.

From 2014-2016, Sarfaraz was arguably Pakistan's best all-format batsmen scoring 5 centuries in that period and being included in the Word Test Team in 2015. He starred for Pakistan during the 2015 World Cup, coming off the bench to solve Pakistan's opening woes with back to back Man of the Match displays. He continued to have success whenever handed the captaincy reigns, leading his franchise Quetta Gladiators to back to back finals in the Pakistan Super League in 2016 and 2017, only to be hampered at the final hurdle by the hesitancy of the franchise's foreign players to travel to Pakistan for the most important game of the tournament. Nonetheless his efforts saw him awarded with the Pakistan T20 captaincy where he led Pakistan to a record 11 consecutive series wins.

Sarfaraz's success in the shortest format saw him ascend to the rank of ODI Captain where he immediately led Pakistan to one of the greatest triumphs in their cricketing history by beating India by a record margin in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Sarfaraz enjoyed a memorable tournament that included a gutsy, albeit fortuitous match-winning innings against Sri Lanka to help Pakistan reach the semi-final stage. The triumph saw Sarfaraz lauded for creating a cohesive team environment where young players could thrive, a rarity for historically senior-oriented and divided Pakistani dressing rooms of yore.

Fitness issues and criticism

After his triumphant return from the Champions Trophy, Sarfaraz was given the unenviable task of replacing Pakistan's most statistically successful Test Captain Misbah-ul-Haq. The task was made even harder with Pakistan's best test batsman, Younis Khan, retiring along with Misbah. Leading a team missing its pillars, Sarfaraz was unable to replicate his success as captain in white-ball cricket in the game's longest format. Sporadic triumphs, notably a drawn series in England and beating Australia in the UAE, were overshadowed by ‘home' series defeats to Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the UAE, an impregnable and unconquered fortress under Misbah for 7 years. His critics grew and so did the number of things to criticize. Chief among these was his fitness, which seemed to be affecting his batting and keeping, while more personal criticism targeted the way he looked and spoke.

Sarfaraz's critics even hypocritically maligned him for promoting younger batsmen up the order despite their usual criticism of senior players selfishly coming higher up the order themselves and curtailing the development of lesser experienced players. Many referred to Sarfaraz as a specialist captain who added no value to the team, his detractors claimed the team's success in the limited overs format was in spite of him rather than because of him. However, his predecessors were unable to guide the team to the same results. Under Misbah and his recommended successor Azhar Ali, Pakistan fell to 9th in the ODI rankings whereas Sarfaraz took them up to 5th place. While under Shahid Afridi's captaincy the team was knocked out of the 2016 World T20 during the group stage. Sarfaraz took the reins of the same team immediately after and won 11 consecutive T20 series on the trot along with the Champions Trophy. He was also slated for constantly barking instructions from behind the stumps though that is precisely what an ill-disciplined outfit like Pakistan, which is prone to complacency needed to achieve the success it did.

However, the straw that broke, well almost broke, the camel's back was when he made an exasperated but irresponsible comment on the field, in reference to a constantly fortuitous South African batsman, the remark was unbefitting of a Pakistan captain. As a result, a suspension was dutifully doled out by the ICC, which may have marked the beginning of the end for Sarfaraz but with a lack of captaincy alternatives and the World Cup around the corner, he retained his post. The World Cup saw Pakistan miss a semi-final berth by a whisker and find momentum a little too late in the tournament, after playing the wrong line-up in earlier games. To their credit they did beat both the finalists earlier in the tournament but it was too little, too late for Sarfaraz and his team.

An unceremonious axing

Speculation was rife that a typical post-World Cup overhaul was coming, with Sarfaraz expected to lose the captaincy in Test cricket and possibly in the ODI format too. Rather surprisingly, he was retained across all formats and the revamp was limited to the newly appointed Head Coach-cum-Chief Selector Misbah-ul-Haq and Bowling Coach Waqar Younis. The axing and handing of the captaincy, along with pretty much every other decision related to Pakistani cricket now lay in Misbah's hands. His first order of business was recalling the notorious duo of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, two players who Sarfaraz did not want back in the team as they were known to hamper the team environment. The repeated failures of the two recalled players – Akmal made consecutive golden ducks while Shehzad averaged 8.5 – proved disastrous for the Pakistani top-order. The team went on to be clean swept in the home T20 series against Sri Lanka.

It seems to absolve his calamitous selection decisions, Misbah has saddled the blame on Sarfaraz, Pakistan's top scorer in the ill-fated series, not only costing him the captaincy but also his place in the team across all formats. With the T20 World Cup less than a year away, the decision to sack Sarfaraz from the shortest format is especially questionable, considering Pakistan won 11 consecutive series on the trot on their way to becoming the current top ranked T20 side.

The Future

What is even more debatable than Sarfaraz's axing is the appointment of a novice captain, Babar Azam, as his replacement. There are fears that the burden of captaincy may hamper Pakistan's only world class batsmen considering his bashful nature and leadership inexperience. It is worth bearing in mind though that Babar has made a career out of proving his critics wrong and the captaincy might just help take his game to the next level similar to New Zealand's Kane Williamson and India's Virat Kohli. On the other hand, if Babar does crumble under the pressure of captaincy, he can always do away with the burden and go back to piling on the runs similar to past greats such as Javed Miandad, Younis Khan and even Sachin Tendulkar.

Babar's appointment should also satisfy a large portion of fans who yearn to see him as captain and would disapprove of any other alternative, a scenario exacerbated by the dearth of available options. Yet the brash decision-making on Misbah's part, seems rather uncharacteristic of a man whose playing days were characterized by a measured, safety first approach. The safer and perhaps wiser decision would have been to try out this experiment in a different format and not with the T20 World Cup just around the corner.

The decision to relieve Sarfaraz of the Test captaincy is simpler to understand and is in fact along expected lines given both his captaincy results and personal performance. However, his replacement Azhar Ali, has been out of form for the last 2 years, averaging under 30 over 13 Tests. In the last year alone, his average is a paltry 10. He also happens to be 34 years old with well-documented knee issues and his appointment seems to be of the stop-gap variety until either Babar matures enough to take over the Test team or another leader emerges within the dressing room. It is worth noting that Misbah himself recommended Azhar, widely viewed as his protégé, to replace him as captain after the 2015 World Cup. The decision should ensure a good working relationship between the two and afford Misbah the opportunity to further exert his control over the team. Safety first indeed.

As another chapter of Pakistan cricket comes to a close with the end of Sarfaraz's captaincy tenure we find ourselves approaching a new era with an uncertain outlook. Replacing Sarfaraz will not be as straightforward as some may believe for his captaincy is criminally underrated in a team with a severe dearth of leaders. Though he was not completely devoid of tactical and leadership flaws, he has served as one of the most astute Pakistan captain's in recent history.

On the other hand, while there is a feeling of apprehension that one man, Misbah, holds the kind of absolute power not seen since the days of Imran Khan, there is also excitement at the prospect of seeing a young prodigy thrive even further in his new role. Even if Babar does not succeed as captain but still goes onto become one of the countries' greatest ever players, it would be worth remembering the Champions Trophy winning captain who created the dressing room environment which enabled Babar to flourish in the first place. Excitement and greatest ever though, are words that are respectively seldom and never used in the same sentence as Azhar Ali. Let's just stick with apprehension for that one.

 

[the Great Khan]

Sad at what happened to sarfi..he was a real street fighter..a pity the fans just cant be satisfied with anything..

 

[MRSN]

Sarfraz yelling and over the board reactions and abuse of players is not being missed at all.

 

[Slog]

I think he was a very good limited overs captain. He wasn’t perfect and sometimes held back rather than go for the killer move. But he was Better than Misbah and better than Afridi.

But he had literally forgotten how to hold a bat and become a bog average keeper in recent times so it was hard to justify his place in the team.

 

[MRSN]

I think he was a very good limited overs captain. He wasn’t perfect and sometimes held back rather than go for the killer move. But he was Better than Misbah and better than Afridi.

But he had literally forgotten how to hold a bat and become a bog average keeper in recent times so it was hard to justify his place in the team.

A captain has to perform to inspire his team and implement his authority and earn respect. Sarfraz would even send likes of Hasan Ali before himself when he was presented with a challenge in batting.

 

[Junaids]

You can’t “whitewash” racially abusing a black player in South Africa. It’s like making a joke about gas chambers while visiting Israel.

I am the first to say that four years ago Sarfraz was Pakistan’s best player.

But there is no way a skipper who racially sledges a black player in South Africa can ever be picked for his country again.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Sarfaraz was a decent player at best, once he was made captain he became complacent and the half decent fitness he had all but dissapeared. He pretty much dined of the CT win. Otherwise his captaincy was poor and most of time wasnt even worth his place in team on merit. good riddance, and time to move on.

 

[nam]

You can’t “whitewash” racially abusing a black player in South Africa. It’s like making a joke about gas chambers while visiting Israel.

I am the first to say that four years ago Sarfraz was Pakistan’s best player.

But there is no way a skipper who racially sledges a black player in South Africa can ever be picked for his country again.

Cut him some slack now please. 'Kale' is a word very common and not seen a racial slur back where he comes from and its not the same as the notorious N word. Also look at the video and context he said it at, he was smiling and making a joke. You guys like to make a mole out of a mountain.

 

[MRSN]

Cut him some slack now please. 'Kale' is a word very common and not seen a racial slur back where he comes from and its not the same as the notorious N word. Also look at the video and context he said it at, he was smiling and making a joke. You guys like to make a mole out of a mountain.

just because something is common does not mean it's not wrong. No educated person who has manners will call anyone by their colors in such a way and we are talking about someone leading our national team.

calling low casts like "oye mochi, oye chore, oye musalli" is also common but we know it's degradeful and hurts people being targeted and we see people even fight when they are called like that. It just shows their ugly thinking and expose their mentality.

This was a massive blunder by Sarfraz but you can't defend it like it was a nothing.

 

[Savak]

The PCB could have got rid of Sarfaraz after that Abay Kalle episode. In fact they were considering doing so but backed down because of govt pressure that they can't change the captain just before the WC. Sarfaraz's individual performance, fitness were non existent, you can't establish a high performance culture in the team when your own captain as a player is a liability. Sarfaraz also got too comfortable as captain knowing full well there were no alternatives and never really took personal responsibility for the team's poor performances.

 

[A.A.Z]

You can’t “whitewash” racially abusing a black player in South Africa. It’s like making a joke about gas chambers while visiting Israel.

I am the first to say that four years ago Sarfraz was Pakistan’s best player.

But there is no way a skipper who racially sledges a black player in South Africa can ever be picked for his country again.

I believe what Sarfaraz said was crass and immature but it literally translates to what prayers has this black fellow'a mother bestowed upon him, which is not offensive at all. None of the words he used are considered derogatory or abusive in the language he used them in nor are they considered as such when translated appropriately in english.

Ramiz Raja may be a poor cricket analyst and one-dimensional commentator but he's an educated, worldly, and literate individual from an affluent family. But even Ramiz on commendatory laughed at what he said and translated it ambiguously as an inoffensive statement said in exasperation at one of the luckiest innings ever witnessed by a player who is usually quite fortunate in the risks he takes with the bat and also with the wickets he ends up getting. His full name is actually Andile Lucky Phehlukwayo.

I don't know if Ramiz has changed his tune and jumped on the Sarfaraz bashing bandwagon but at the time he reacted to it quite normally. The person who actually made a big deal about it is Shoaib Akhtar who has said far worse things on air himself. Shoaib has always disliked Sarfaraz being captain as he's obsessed with having a 'dalair', good-looking captain with long hair flying about, which is not too different from most Pakistani's who in general value personalities over results.

This was yet another opportunity for Shoaib and Sarfaraz's critics to try and get him removed from the captaincy. An argument can be made against Sarfaraz being the team on merit but Shoaib was hating on him even when we had won the Champions Trophy saying nonsense like this isn't the Nazimambad cricket team (Sarfaraz's neighbourhood). He purely disliked him for his facial features and the way he spoke even making comments about his nose.

I'm not "whitewashing" what Sarfaraz said, it was irresponsible and unbefitting of a Pakistan captain but it was not a racist or malicious statement and even if it appears to some that it was then that's an issue in mistranslation. We can criticise Sarfaraz's performance but we shouldn't blow things out of proportion and beat a dead horse.

 

[MenInG]

Guys - stay on topic - Sarf captaincy in general and not just one incident.

 

[MRSN]

I believe what Sarfaraz said was crass and immature but it literally translates to what prayers has this black fellow'a mother bestowed upon him, which is not offensive at all. None of the words he used are considered derogatory or abusive in the language he used them in nor are they considered as such when translated appropriately in english.

Ramiz Raja may be a poor cricket analyst and one-dimensional commentator but he's an educated, worldly, and literate individual from an affluent family. But even Ramiz on commendatory laughed at what he said and translated it ambiguously as an inoffensive statement said in exasperation at one of the luckiest innings ever witnessed by a player who is usually quite fortunate in the risks he takes with the bat and also with the wickets he ends up getting. His full name is actually Andile Lucky Phehlukwayo.

I don't know if Ramiz has changed his tune and jumped on the Sarfaraz bashing bandwagon but at the time he reacted to it quite normally. The person who actually made a big deal about it is Shoaib Akhtar who has said far worse things on air himself. Shoaib has always disliked Sarfaraz being captain as he's obsessed with having a 'dalair', good-looking captain with long hair flying about, which is not too different from most Pakistani's who in general value personalities over results.

This was yet another opportunity for Shoaib and Sarfaraz's critics to try and get him removed from the captaincy. An argument can be made against Sarfaraz being the team on merit but Shoaib was hating on him even when we had won the Champions Trophy saying nonsense like this isn't the Nazimambad cricket team (Sarfaraz's neighbourhood). He purely disliked him for his facial features and the way he spoke even making comments about his nose.

I'm not "whitewashing" what Sarfaraz said, it was irresponsible and unbefitting of a Pakistan captain but it was not a racist or malicious statement and even if it appears to some that it was then that's an issue in mistranslation. We can criticise Sarfaraz's performance but we shouldn't blow things out of proportion and beat a dead horse.

lol
Ramiz only saved him and Pakistan from further embarrassment by saying "difficult to translate. It's a big long sentence." when commentator asked him what he really said.

 

[Darkrai]

To be a captain/leader, you have to be in the team on merit, which wasn't the case with Sarfraz. He was one of the worst players in the team, if not the worst. A gutless man who batted below tail-enders, had zero performances, and his team was treated like a minnow by the top teams of the world, and you call him a captain? Once he was handed the captaincy, he never even behaved or performed like an international player, let alone a captain.

 

[Savak]

I believe what Sarfaraz said was crass and immature but it literally translates to what prayers has this black fellow'a mother bestowed upon him, which is not offensive at all. None of the words he used are considered derogatory or abusive in the language he used them in nor are they considered as such when translated appropriately in english.

Ramiz Raja may be a poor cricket analyst and one-dimensional commentator but he's an educated, worldly, and literate individual from an affluent family. But even Ramiz on commendatory laughed at what he said and translated it ambiguously as an inoffensive statement said in exasperation at one of the luckiest innings ever witnessed by a player who is usually quite fortunate in the risks he takes with the bat and also with the wickets he ends up getting. His full name is actually Andile Lucky Phehlukwayo.

I don't know if Ramiz has changed his tune and jumped on the Sarfaraz bashing bandwagon but at the time he reacted to it quite normally. The person who actually made a big deal about it is Shoaib Akhtar who has said far worse things on air himself. Shoaib has always disliked Sarfaraz being captain as he's obsessed with having a 'dalair', good-looking captain with long hair flying about, which is not too different from most Pakistani's who in general value personalities over results.

This was yet another opportunity for Shoaib and Sarfaraz's critics to try and get him removed from the captaincy. An argument can be made against Sarfaraz being the team on merit but Shoaib was hating on him even when we had won the Champions Trophy saying nonsense like this isn't the Nazimambad cricket team (Sarfaraz's neighbourhood). He purely disliked him for his facial features and the way he spoke even making comments about his nose.

I'm not "whitewashing" what Sarfaraz said, it was irresponsible and unbefitting of a Pakistan captain but it was not a racist or malicious statement and even if it appears to some that it was then that's an issue in mistranslation. We can criticise Sarfaraz's performance but we shouldn't blow things out of proportion and beat a dead horse.

I am sorry but did Sarfaraz do anything to prevent the likes of Shoaib pouncing on him? Did Shoaib force Sarfaraz to chow down the nihari's, biryani's, to turn to the toss with a paunch, to develop a fat neck, face and to yawn in the middle of a game? Sarfaraz is to be blamed for what happened to him

 

[Hawkeye]

Fickle fans.

We were at our worst in the two premier formats under Mickey + Sarfraz combo.

In 2 years time, the new, young, energetic team will have improved significantly. They haven't even started yet.

And here, the Sarfraz + Mickey mafia is not leaving any chance to trash the new captain and young players.

"We're a proud team and we hate losing" - after every LOSS, perpetual losses. People have short memories. This will get normal in a couple of years.

It happens.

 

[A.A.Z]

I am sorry but did Sarfaraz do anything to prevent the likes of Shoaib pouncing on him? Did Shoaib force Sarfaraz to chow down the nihari's, biryani's, to turn to the toss with a paunch, to develop a fat neck, face and to yawn in the middle of a game? Sarfaraz is to be blamed for what happened to him

I agree fitness and performance issues should be criticised but what does his nose, acne-scarring, short stature and receding hairline have to do with, which Shoaib has often made fun of on ptv sports.

I loved Shoaib the player when he was fit and and on a roll, but his comments about Sarfaraz's appearance excluding the one's about his fitness are extremely disgusting. Not to mention how he makes fun of Sarfaraz's mild stutter. Shoaib holds no authority to hold others morally accountable, he should stick to criticising fitness and performance.

 

[A.A.Z]

just because something is common does not mean it's not wrong. No educated person who has manners will call anyone by their colors in such a way and we are talking about someone leading our national team.

calling low casts like "oye mochi, oye chore, oye musalli" is also common but we know it's degradeful and hurts people being targeted and we see people even fight when they are called like that. It just shows their ugly thinking and expose their mentality.

This was a massive blunder by Sarfraz but you can't defend it like it was a nothing.

Black does not refer to the colour of their skin only, it refers to their ethnicity and is not a racist term to use. I have Black British friends who have told people off for referring to them as African ethnically and prefer to be called Black and does the majority of the black community.

 

[hitthestump]

Irrespective of the lack of alternative options, Safaraz cannot be a legitimate captain when he is

a) by far the worst player in the team
b) has looked like a tellytubby for the majority of his so called 'leadership'

Respect cannot given to human beings - it can only be earned. Safaraz earned next to none with his abysmal performances game after game.

 

[coy0607]

Sarfraz was the best captain Pakistan has had in over a decade, that said, his own performances were very poor and I am not sure how sustainable it is to have a player who is in the team because of his captaincy.

But yeah, I expect a downward decline in performances for all 3-formats because of the weak leadership (and I mean on-field captain and coach/selector)

 

[MenInG]

Guys - stay on topic - Sarf captaincy in general and not just one incident.

Reminder.

 

[happydavy]

On PP - The one who isn't in the team always looks better than when he's in the team!

 

[Titan24]

- Having BD 11/3 in Asia Cup 2018 and letting them score 239 runs from there and loosing the match

- Having NZ 50 odd for 4 in test match while still trailing and letting them score 353 before declaring in 3rd innings and loosing the match from there

- Having SA 80 odd for 5 in ODI while chasing 203 and loosing the match from there by 5 wickets

Are few of the the worst displays of captaincy one will ever see along with some pretty ordinary decision making with the team management in terms of selections without taking into account the conditions and the oppositions.

 

[ZamanFan]

Sarfaraz Ahmed/ Mickey Arthur were the best thing to happen to Pakistan cricket. I'm afraid Misbah/Azhar/Babar will prove this himself.

There is lack of enthusiasm and anticipation to watch Pakistan team since Misbah ul Haq was made chief selector and coach. This is the most terrible decision made since Ijaz Butt as PCB chairman.

This is dark times for Pakistan cricket so I'm not worried about Sarfaraz exit at this juncture.
The article does not cover what Sarf and Arthur had to face. Ehsan Mani has been disaster for Pakistan national team since his coming in Aug 2018, Pakistan team lost almost every tournament in all formats. Mani's delegation of more powers to biased chief selector Inzamam. Players like Junaid Khan being thrown out for Wahabs, Fakhar Zaman being removed for Imam [NZ series in Dubai] after he scored 90 in 2 innings v Australia, led to first home defeat in UAE.

Sarfaraz ability to gel different players under his captaincy [a rare quality in Pakistan team], his aggressive intent and mindset, being the only Pakistani captain to win multination tournament and Pakistan team remaining no. 1 T20 side for one calendar year is not a small feat.

This obituary is farce.
Sarfaraz will be back.

 

[A.A.Z]

"Sarfaraz's critics even hypocritically maligned him for promoting younger batsmen up the order despite their usual criticism of senior players selfishly coming higher up the order themselves and curtailing the development of lesser experienced players. Many referred to Sarfaraz as a specialist captain who added no value to the team, his detractors claimed the team's success in the limited overs format was in spite of him rather than because of him. However, his predecessors were unable to guide the team to the same results. Under Misbah and his recommended successor Azhar Ali, Pakistan fell to 9th in the ODI rankings whereas Sarfaraz took them up to 5th place. While under Shahid Afridi's captaincy the team was knocked out of the 2016 World T20 during the group stage. Sarfaraz took the reins of the same team immediately after and won 11 consecutive T20 series on the trot along with the Champions Trophy. He was also slated for constantly barking instructions from behind the stumps though that is precisely what an ill-disciplined outfit like Pakistan, which is prone to complacency needed to achieve the success it did."

"The triumph saw Sarfaraz lauded for creating a cohesive team environment where young players could thrive, a rarity for historically senior-oriented and divided Pakistani dressing rooms of yore."

"Babar's appointment should also satisfy a large portion of fans who yearn to see him as captain and would disapprove of any other alternative, a scenario exacerbated by the dearth of available options. Yet the brash decision-making on Misbah's part, seems rather uncharacteristic of a man whose playing days were characterized by a measured, safety first approach. The safer and perhaps wiser decision would have been to try out this experiment in a different format and not with the T20 World Cup just around the corner."

"On the other hand, while there is a feeling of apprehension that one man, Misbah, holds the kind of absolute power not seen since the days of Imran Khan, there is also excitement at the prospect of seeing a young prodigy thrive even further in his new role. Even if Babar does not succeed as captain but still goes onto become one of the countries' greatest ever players, it would be worth remembering the Champions Trophy winning captain who created the dressing room environment which enabled Babar to flourish in the first place. Excitement and greatest ever though, are words that are respectively seldom and never used in the same sentence as Azhar Ali. Let's just stick with apprehension for that one."

These are the key takeaways.

 

[Hawkeye]

On PP - The one who isn't in the team always looks better than when he's in the team!

- Having BD 11/3 in Asia Cup 2018 and letting them score 239 runs from there and loosing the match

- Having NZ 50 odd for 4 in test match while still trailing and letting them score 353 before declaring in 3rd innings and loosing the match from there

- Having SA 80 odd for 5 in ODI while chasing 203 and loosing the match from there by 5 wickets

Are few of the the worst displays of captaincy one will ever see along with some pretty ordinary decision making with the team management in terms of selections without taking into account the conditions and the oppositions.

Excellent posts.

Seems like people have forgotten how horrendous we had become under Sarfraz + Mickey combo.

The new folks haven't even started yet. In 2 years time, we'd be a significantly improved team as compared to the dark era.

Sarf was decent in the start, but terrible by the end.

 

[DRsohail]

- Having BD 11/3 in Asia Cup 2018 and letting them score 239 runs from there and loosing the match

- Having NZ 50 odd for 4 in test match while still trailing and letting them score 353 before declaring in 3rd innings and loosing the match from there

- Having SA 80 odd for 5 in ODI while chasing 203 and loosing the match from there by 5 wickets

Are few of the the worst displays of captaincy one will ever see along with some pretty ordinary decision making with the team management in terms of selections without taking into account the conditions and the oppositions.

Spot on.

 

[Titan24]

Sarfaraz Ahmed/ Mickey Arthur were the best thing to happen to Pakistan cricket. I'm afraid Misbah/Azhar/Babar will prove this himself.

There is lack of enthusiasm and anticipation to watch Pakistan team since Misbah ul Haq was made chief selector and coach. This is the most terrible decision made since Ijaz Butt as PCB chairman.

This is dark times for Pakistan cricket so I'm not worried about Sarfaraz exit at this juncture.
The article does not cover what Sarf and Arthur had to face. Ehsan Mani has been disaster for Pakistan national team since his coming in Aug 2018, Pakistan team lost almost every tournament in all formats. Mani's delegation of more powers to biased chief selector Inzamam. Players like Junaid Khan being thrown out for Wahabs, Fakhar Zaman being removed for Imam [NZ series in Dubai] after he scored 90 in 2 innings v Australia, led to first home defeat in UAE.

Sarfaraz ability to gel different players under his captaincy [a rare quality in Pakistan team], his aggressive intent and mindset, being the only Pakistani captain to win multination tournament and Pakistan team remaining no. 1 T20 side for one calendar year is not a small feat.

This obituary is farce.
Sarfaraz will be back.

Firstly welcome to PP.

Secondly if only Sarfaraz would have been half as good as you think him to be then we wouldnt have lost record 11 consecutive ODI matches along with every test series in last two years with the exception of 1 series win and 1 series being drawn. Also there are 3 blatant instances of poor captaincy I have mentioned in post 23 (Just above yours).

Yes we won CT 17 and he deserves the credit along with the coach and the team however, his poor captaincy stint post CT 17 cant be ignored.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

I am pretty sure Sarfraz will be leading Pakistan in one of the 2 upcoming World T20s if not both.

Misbah is the epitome of booriat and if one Urdu line can summarize him it will be:
"Misbah ki waja sai bachun nay cricket dekhna chor di hai".
Hell of a boring person.

 

[AAli98]

Will be forever greatfull to misbah/waqar for getting rid of this pathetic excuse of a cricketer.. his damaged the team beyond repair.

Will take at least 3 years for the team to get back on track. His last memory in a pak shirt will be batting with handcuffs on against a 3rd SL xi & failing miserably.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Sarfaraz was dropped due to His Batting performance. Mohd Rizwan has this year scored 2 centuries in ODI and that double hunderd he scored in Quaid Azam Trophy. Rizwan is averaging over 40 in both First Class and List A. Plus his Wicket keeping is just as good if not better.
Sarfi's captaincy was not bad, But a captain must qualify as a player first. The reason Rizwan was not selecting for World Cup 2019 was Sarfaraz was the skipper.

 

[A.A.Z]

Firstly welcome to PP.

Secondly if only Sarfaraz would have been half as good as you think him to be then we wouldnt have lost record 11 consecutive ODI matches along with every test series in last two years with the exception of 1 series win and 1 series being drawn. Also there are 3 blatant instances of poor captaincy I have mentioned in post 23 (Just above yours).

Yes we won CT 17 and he deserves the credit along with the coach and the team however, his poor captaincy stint post CT 17 cant be ignored.

Sarfaraz was only captain for 5 of those 11 games out of which we were playing an experimental squad in 4 of those games against England before the World Cup. The test series losses in UAE were down to not playing another proper spinner, which was Mickey's biggest flaw and probably the reason which led to the non-renewal of his contract.

I agree Sarfaraz could have stood up to Mickey and played the second spinner. I also agree with your examples which highlights the crippling Pakistani flaw of complacency and loosening our grip when we need to be more cut-throat.

But why is his team so consistent in reaching PSL finals when teams like Lahore and Karachi have tried everything but can't figure it out? Why was he the only captain since IK to lead us to a 50 over ICC title? Why is he still the last Captain to win us the u-19 World Cup? Why did we win 11 consecutive T20 series on the trot?

He wasn't the perfect captain but he was one of the better limited overs captains we've had in a very long time.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Firstly welcome to PP.

Secondly if only Sarfaraz would have been half as good as you think him to be then we wouldnt have lost record 11 consecutive ODI matches along with every test series in last two years with the exception of 1 series win and 1 series being drawn. Also there are 3 blatant instances of poor captaincy I have mentioned in post 23 (Just above yours).

Yes we won CT 17 and he deserves the credit along with the coach and the team however, his poor captaincy stint post CT 17 cant be ignored.

While I agree that Sarfraz was not upto standard, but your analysis is not objective. Sarfraz wasn't captain for all of those 11 ODI games, while we would have got hammered against England regardless of who would have been captain. You conveniently forgot to give him credit for beating England when it mattered, in the World Cup.

 

[Titan24]

Sarfaraz was only captain for 5 of those 11 games out of which we were playing an experimental squad in 4 of those games against England before the World Cup. The test series losses in UAE were down to not playing another proper spinner, which was Mickey's biggest flaw and probably the reason which led to the non-renewal of his contract.

I agree Sarfaraz could have stood up to Mickey and played the second spinner. I also agree with your examples which highlights the crippling Pakistani flaw of complacency and loosening our grip when we need to be more cut-throat.

But why is his team so consistent in reaching PSL finals when teams like Lahore and Karachi have tried everything but can't figure it out? Why was he the only captain since IK to lead us to a 50 over ICC title? Why is he still the last Captain to win us the u-19 World Cup? Why did we win 11 consecutive T20 series on the trot?

He wasn't the perfect captain but he was one of the better limited overs captains we've had in a very long time.

While I agree that Sarfraz was not upto standard, but your analysis is not objective. Sarfraz wasn't captain for all of those 11 ODI games, while we would have got hammered against England regardless of who would have been captain. You conveniently forgot to give him credit for beating England when it mattered, in the World Cup.

While its true he wasnt the captain of all those 11 matches, he was of 5 (Including 1 against WI in WC) but still it doesnt make much of a difference to the shortcomings he showed as the captain. As a captain he got whitewashed in NZ, ENG in ODIs, humiliating Asia Cup whitewashed in SA in tests along with home series whitewash to Srl in tests and loosing test series to NZ.

He couldnt beat a single top 5 team in an ODI or a test series throughout his captaincy tenure except 1-0 win over Aus. There is no metric, benchmark or standard where Sarfaraz's captaincy tenure in ODIs and Tests can be said as acceptable.

 

[Saj]

It felt as if some of the successes went to Sarfaraz's head.

He felt he was untouchable due to his home city's media lobby favouring him.

The performances dipped, fitness levels dropped, his captaincy flopped, it was only a matter of time before he was shown the door.

 

[Hasan123]

Lol more like criminally ovverated. Sick of the praise this pathetic player gets.

 

[Hawkeye]

Will be forever greatfull to misbah/waqar for getting rid of this pathetic excuse of a cricketer.. his damaged the team beyond repair.

Will take at least 3 years for the team to get back on track. His last memory in a pak shirt will be batting with handcuffs on against a 3rd SL xi & failing miserably.

Lol more like criminally ovverated. Sick of the praise this pathetic player gets.

Well said.

The Mickey Arthur brigade has started praising and defending Sarfraz, just so they can defend Mickey's decision of backing him and Malik.

 

[MMHS]

Any given day, guy was much better captain than Azhar Ali - no question on that. And, based on last one year, I am afraid Azhar might match WK-Batsman Sarfraz’s batting stats despite being specialist bat and batting at 3.....

But, I understand why PCB took that call - if their future plan is like what I expect, it’s probably a better call. After experiencing Sarfraz in WC and either side, it’s not a bad idea to find a scapegoat for AUS tour. Waise, captaincy alone won’t have uprooted many trees in Australia, but at least it can shed someone - if Misbah is thinking in that line*, I have to appreciate that.

*My personal thinking is that Azhar will remain Captain for Test side as long as Misbah is in charge, and by the time PAK plays ODI, depending on the Test series against SRL, BD ...... Azhar might replace Sarfraz for ODI as well

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Unfortunately people dont realize how important captaincy really is, specifically the wicketkeeper, just look at india after dhoni, coordination in fielding and bowling decreased drastically.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

Sarfraz supporters arguments are laughable.
The guy was terrible it was painful watching him always yelling on the players and his own performances were pathetic.

 

[Danyaalr01]

Well said.

The Mickey Arthur brigade has started praising and defending Sarfraz, just so they can defend Mickey's decision of backing him and Malik.

While I didn't want Sarfaraz or Malik in the team (I have always preffered Rizwan and Haris), Misbah hasn't started his "getting the team back on track" well. How will bringing the TTFs Shehzad, Akmal, Irfan, sticking with Wahab and Imran Khan Sr help his cause. I applaud Misbah for removing Sarfaraz, as he was just painful to watch in the Sri Lanka series. But he hasn't done much after. Yes he has brought in young quicks, but then he brought in the most useless old quicks as well when we had better, younger alternatives (like Sameen for the tests, Imran's experience means nothing, he has been useless).

Misbah so far has been 1 step forward and then in the same selection he goes 2 steps back.

Now, without personally attacking me like you have in previous posts, why don't you explain Misbah's decision of recycling these TTFs.

 

[Hyperion66]

People who still consider Sarfraz a 'Leader' need to get their heads examined. Can't lead through his own performance, limited game awareness, has a totally negative presence on the field, treats his own teammates like kindergarteners, inspires zero confidence, horrible communication skills and a severe lack of civic sense, has a lackluster body language and garbage attitude towards fitness, I mean I could go on and on but could it be anymore obvious? He doesn't have even a single leadership quality, none whatsoever, hell if there is anything called anti-leader he is that.

I have nothing against him, he seems like a jolly good fellow and has a certain innocence about him but a leader most definitely he is not, never was nor will be.

 

[Hyperion66]

- Having BD 11/3 in Asia Cup 2018 and letting them score 239 runs from there and loosing the match

- Having NZ 50 odd for 4 in test match while still trailing and letting them score 353 before declaring in 3rd innings and loosing the match from there

- Having SA 80 odd for 5 in ODI while chasing 203 and loosing the match from there by 5 wickets

Are few of the the worst displays of captaincy one will ever see along with some pretty ordinary decision making with the team management in terms of selections without taking into account the conditions and the oppositions.

Fact based and well written as always.

 

[Hyperion66]

I am pretty sure Sarfraz will be leading Pakistan in one of the 2 upcoming World T20s if not both.

Misbah is the epitome of booriat and if one Urdu line can summarize him it will be:
"Misbah ki waja sai bachun nay cricket dekhna chor di hai".
Hell of a boring person.

No offence and I don't mean to mock or insult but tell me if Misbah is boring then what exactly about Sarfraz that you find exciting?

Those 'Bacchein' who allegedly stopped watching cricket due to Misbah perhaps didn't know that some exciting players did some very bad things like selling their country for a few bucks so a boring guy like Misbah had to step in to save your country from humiliation.

 

[Danyaalr01]

No offence and I don't mean to mock or insult but tell me if Misbah is boring then what exactly about Sarfraz that you find exciting?

Those 'Bacchein' who allegedly stopped watching cricket due to Misbah perhaps didn't know that some exciting players did some very bad things like selling their country for a few bucks so a boring guy like Misbah had to step in to save your country from humiliation.

He's saying Misbah will bring Sarfaraz back and make us boring.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

https://www.brecorder.com/2019/11/04/541168/sarfaraz-ahmed-captaincy-obituary/

Sarfaraz Ahmed's stint as captain has come to an end and it is highly probable that the same can be said for his international career. While the Pakistan team under a new management setup is occupied with the ongoing tour of Australia, Sarfaraz has been left to contemplate where his playing career will go from here. Here, we pause and take a look a back at a career that achieved more than most ever did in a green shirt, as well as where we go from here with two new captains and one supreme commander in the latest, gripping episode of the drama that is Pakistani cricket.

Early struggles and breakthrough

Sarfaraz first came to prominence in 2006 when he led Pakistan to victory in the Under-19 World Cup beating arch-rivals India in a gripping final. His leadership capabilities were evident from an early age and the experience would undoubtedly serve him well in the later stages of his career. His performance earned him a call-up to the national side the following year, however between 2007 and 2011 he struggled to dislodge Kamran Akmal as the team's incumbent wicket-keeper. Kamran's erratic form with the bat and more so behind the stumps, saw Sarfaraz come back into the side and make his first impression at the senior level when he played a match-winning knock in the 2012 Asia Cup final. Even then it was not until 2014 when Sarfaraz finally cemented his place in the national side after coming in for the injured Adnan Akmal.

From 2014-2016, Sarfaraz was arguably Pakistan's best all-format batsmen scoring 5 centuries in that period and being included in the Word Test Team in 2015. He starred for Pakistan during the 2015 World Cup, coming off the bench to solve Pakistan's opening woes with back to back Man of the Match displays. He continued to have success whenever handed the captaincy reigns, leading his franchise Quetta Gladiators to back to back finals in the Pakistan Super League in 2016 and 2017, only to be hampered at the final hurdle by the hesitancy of the franchise's foreign players to travel to Pakistan for the most important game of the tournament. Nonetheless his efforts saw him awarded with the Pakistan T20 captaincy where he led Pakistan to a record 11 consecutive series wins.

Sarfaraz's success in the shortest format saw him ascend to the rank of ODI Captain where he immediately led Pakistan to one of the greatest triumphs in their cricketing history by beating India by a record margin in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Sarfaraz enjoyed a memorable tournament that included a gutsy, albeit fortuitous match-winning innings against Sri Lanka to help Pakistan reach the semi-final stage. The triumph saw Sarfaraz lauded for creating a cohesive team environment where young players could thrive, a rarity for historically senior-oriented and divided Pakistani dressing rooms of yore.

Fitness issues and criticism

After his triumphant return from the Champions Trophy, Sarfaraz was given the unenviable task of replacing Pakistan's most statistically successful Test Captain Misbah-ul-Haq. The task was made even harder with Pakistan's best test batsman, Younis Khan, retiring along with Misbah. Leading a team missing its pillars, Sarfaraz was unable to replicate his success as captain in white-ball cricket in the game's longest format. Sporadic triumphs, notably a drawn series in England and beating Australia in the UAE, were overshadowed by ‘home' series defeats to Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the UAE, an impregnable and unconquered fortress under Misbah for 7 years. His critics grew and so did the number of things to criticize. Chief among these was his fitness, which seemed to be affecting his batting and keeping, while more personal criticism targeted the way he looked and spoke.

Sarfaraz's critics even hypocritically maligned him for promoting younger batsmen up the order despite their usual criticism of senior players selfishly coming higher up the order themselves and curtailing the development of lesser experienced players. Many referred to Sarfaraz as a specialist captain who added no value to the team, his detractors claimed the team's success in the limited overs format was in spite of him rather than because of him. However, his predecessors were unable to guide the team to the same results. Under Misbah and his recommended successor Azhar Ali, Pakistan fell to 9th in the ODI rankings whereas Sarfaraz took them up to 5th place. While under Shahid Afridi's captaincy the team was knocked out of the 2016 World T20 during the group stage. Sarfaraz took the reins of the same team immediately after and won 11 consecutive T20 series on the trot along with the Champions Trophy. He was also slated for constantly barking instructions from behind the stumps though that is precisely what an ill-disciplined outfit like Pakistan, which is prone to complacency needed to achieve the success it did.

However, the straw that broke, well almost broke, the camel's back was when he made an exasperated but irresponsible comment on the field, in reference to a constantly fortuitous South African batsman, the remark was unbefitting of a Pakistan captain. As a result, a suspension was dutifully doled out by the ICC, which may have marked the beginning of the end for Sarfaraz but with a lack of captaincy alternatives and the World Cup around the corner, he retained his post. The World Cup saw Pakistan miss a semi-final berth by a whisker and find momentum a little too late in the tournament, after playing the wrong line-up in earlier games. To their credit they did beat both the finalists earlier in the tournament but it was too little, too late for Sarfaraz and his team.

An unceremonious axing

Speculation was rife that a typical post-World Cup overhaul was coming, with Sarfaraz expected to lose the captaincy in Test cricket and possibly in the ODI format too. Rather surprisingly, he was retained across all formats and the revamp was limited to the newly appointed Head Coach-cum-Chief Selector Misbah-ul-Haq and Bowling Coach Waqar Younis. The axing and handing of the captaincy, along with pretty much every other decision related to Pakistani cricket now lay in Misbah's hands. His first order of business was recalling the notorious duo of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, two players who Sarfaraz did not want back in the team as they were known to hamper the team environment. The repeated failures of the two recalled players – Akmal made consecutive golden ducks while Shehzad averaged 8.5 – proved disastrous for the Pakistani top-order. The team went on to be clean swept in the home T20 series against Sri Lanka.

It seems to absolve his calamitous selection decisions, Misbah has saddled the blame on Sarfaraz, Pakistan's top scorer in the ill-fated series, not only costing him the captaincy but also his place in the team across all formats. With the T20 World Cup less than a year away, the decision to sack Sarfaraz from the shortest format is especially questionable, considering Pakistan won 11 consecutive series on the trot on their way to becoming the current top ranked T20 side.

The Future

What is even more debatable than Sarfaraz's axing is the appointment of a novice captain, Babar Azam, as his replacement. There are fears that the burden of captaincy may hamper Pakistan's only world class batsmen considering his bashful nature and leadership inexperience. It is worth bearing in mind though that Babar has made a career out of proving his critics wrong and the captaincy might just help take his game to the next level similar to New Zealand's Kane Williamson and India's Virat Kohli. On the other hand, if Babar does crumble under the pressure of captaincy, he can always do away with the burden and go back to piling on the runs similar to past greats such as Javed Miandad, Younis Khan and even Sachin Tendulkar.

Babar's appointment should also satisfy a large portion of fans who yearn to see him as captain and would disapprove of any other alternative, a scenario exacerbated by the dearth of available options. Yet the brash decision-making on Misbah's part, seems rather uncharacteristic of a man whose playing days were characterized by a measured, safety first approach. The safer and perhaps wiser decision would have been to try out this experiment in a different format and not with the T20 World Cup just around the corner.

The decision to relieve Sarfaraz of the Test captaincy is simpler to understand and is in fact along expected lines given both his captaincy results and personal performance. However, his replacement Azhar Ali, has been out of form for the last 2 years, averaging under 30 over 13 Tests. In the last year alone, his average is a paltry 10. He also happens to be 34 years old with well-documented knee issues and his appointment seems to be of the stop-gap variety until either Babar matures enough to take over the Test team or another leader emerges within the dressing room. It is worth noting that Misbah himself recommended Azhar, widely viewed as his protégé, to replace him as captain after the 2015 World Cup. The decision should ensure a good working relationship between the two and afford Misbah the opportunity to further exert his control over the team. Safety first indeed.

As another chapter of Pakistan cricket comes to a close with the end of Sarfaraz's captaincy tenure we find ourselves approaching a new era with an uncertain outlook. Replacing Sarfaraz will not be as straightforward as some may believe for his captaincy is criminally underrated in a team with a severe dearth of leaders. Though he was not completely devoid of tactical and leadership flaws, he has served as one of the most astute Pakistan captain's in recent history.

On the other hand, while there is a feeling of apprehension that one man, Misbah, holds the kind of absolute power not seen since the days of Imran Khan, there is also excitement at the prospect of seeing a young prodigy thrive even further in his new role. Even if Babar does not succeed as captain but still goes onto become one of the countries' greatest ever players, it would be worth remembering the Champions Trophy winning captain who created the dressing room environment which enabled Babar to flourish in the first place. Excitement and greatest ever though, are words that are respectively seldom and never used in the same sentence as Azhar Ali. Let's just stick with apprehension for that one.

The best captain we have had since 1999

Shame on those who prefer a chicken hearted captain like Misbah over Sarfraz.

He is the only Pakistani captain to have won two ICC trophies.

I really hope Quetta Gladiators thrashes the other teams and wins this time it will be a slap on the face of Waqar and Misbah

 

[Usman Chadda]

No offence and I don't mean to mock or insult but tell me if Misbah is boring then what exactly about Sarfraz that you find exciting?

Those 'Bacchein' who allegedly stopped watching cricket due to Misbah perhaps didn't know that some exciting players did some very bad things like selling their country for a few bucks so a boring guy like Misbah had to step in to save your country from humiliation.

Well for starters Sarfraz won us a major ICC Trophy, which Misbah can not even dream of sadly. You can brush it away all you want to, but it's a fact and people have to live with that fact.

Sarfraz was rightfully removed from Test and ODI captaincy, but Misbah's Pakistan will be an inevitable disaster.

 

[Mueez]

- Having BD 11/3 in Asia Cup 2018 and letting them score 239 runs from there and loosing the match

- Having NZ 50 odd for 4 in test match while still trailing and letting them score 353 before declaring in 3rd innings and loosing the match from there

- Having SA 80 odd for 5 in ODI while chasing 203 and loosing the match from there by 5 wickets

Are few of the the worst displays of captaincy one will ever see along with some pretty ordinary decision making with the team management in terms of selections without taking into account the conditions and the oppositions.

This.

It was almost identical in every match.

 

[Hyperion66]

Well for starters Sarfraz won us a major ICC Trophy, which Misbah can not even dream of sadly. You can brush it away all you want to, but it's a fact and people have to live with that fact.

Sarfraz was rightfully removed from Test and ODI captaincy, but Misbah's Pakistan will be an inevitable disaster.

I am not brushing anything aside man, was just being curious about what people so like about Sarfraz, if you consider him to be the main architect of CT victory then fair enough and you are very much entitled to that opinion, I personally think he was at right place at the right time and it had got everything to do with some players having the purplest patch of their careers and nothing to do with his captaincy. We can agree to disagree I suppose.

BTW not sure how Misbah could do worse than having a record breaking losing streak or getting whitewashed by Lanka at home. Anyways your team, you probably know better.

 

[Usman Chadda]

I am not brushing anything aside man, was just being curious about what people so like about Sarfraz, if you consider him to be the main architect of CT victory then fair enough and you are very much entitled to that opinion, I personally think he was at right place at the right time and it had got everything to do with some players having the purplest patch of their careers and nothing to do with his captaincy. We can agree to disagree I suppose.

BTW not sure how Misbah could do worse than having a record breaking losing streak or getting whitewashed by Lanka at home. Anyways your team, you probably know better.

Oh but Misbah could. He lost a Test match to Zimbabwe with a full strength side, bet you didn't know that? His WC side could only beat South Africa from the top 5 teams in 2015, while Sarfraz's Pakistan rejuvenated themselves to come within whiskers of a WC semi-final. This, despite a hammering in the first game, that all but knocked us out in the first week itself.

We whine about the record breaking losing streak, but forget that Sarfraz was captain for 5 of them, 4 ODIs against a monstrous England who could have ripped apart India at home aswell.

Sarfraz deserved to lose captaincy because he stopped working hard, but he is a better LOI captain than Misbah any day, week, month of the year.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Oh but Misbah could. He lost a Test match to Zimbabwe with a full strength side, bet you didn't know that? His WC side could only beat South Africa from the top 5 teams in 2015, while Sarfraz's Pakistan rejuvenated themselves to come within whiskers of a WC semi-final. This, despite a hammering in the first game, that all but knocked us out in the first week itself.

We whine about the record breaking losing streak, but forget that Sarfraz was captain for 5 of them, 4 ODIs against a monstrous England who could have ripped apart India at home aswell.

Sarfraz deserved to lose captaincy because he stopped working hard, but he is a better LOI captain than Misbah any day, week, month of the year.

There is no competition between Misbah and Sarfraz as captains

Sarfraz is miles miles ahead.

Misbah is a curse and represents the complete opposite mindset of Mushtaq Mohammad and Imran Khan and their style of play

 

[Mercurial]

I feel it was unfair to drop him from the T20I team, in a rush. He should have captained till the WC. He deserved the axe in the ODI and Test teams though.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Laughable to see comparison between Misbah and Sarfaraz.

Misbah is leading us to another era of darkness and booriat.

 

[MRSN]

People who still consider Sarfraz a 'Leader' need to get their heads examined. Can't lead through his own performance, limited game awareness, has a totally negative presence on the field, treats his own teammates like kindergarteners, inspires zero confidence, horrible communication skills and a severe lack of civic sense, has a lackluster body language and garbage attitude towards fitness, I mean I could go on and on but could it be anymore obvious? He doesn't have even a single leadership quality, none whatsoever, hell if there is anything called anti-leader he is that.

I have nothing against him, he seems like a jolly good fellow and has a certain innocence about him but a leader most definitely he is not, never was nor will be.

brilliantly put. You have exposed all the weak links of Sarfraz in one little paragraph. That's brutal but it is the truth. Exposes all the myths about so called great captain.

 

[shariqnoor]

To be honest, I dearly wanted Sarfraz to be captain on this tour so that this nonsense that he's a great captain would've been truly buried.

But as it is, he survived the guillotine and people will reminisce about how great he was.

 

[Saj]

I like to see captains improve and get better with time and age. I think Sarfaraz went the other way and none of his areas of leadership or captaincy improved.

Then you have his mates in the media filling his head with an untouchable tag, which was a recipe for disaster.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Laughable to see comparison between Misbah and Sarfaraz.

Misbah is leading us to another era of darkness and booriat.

Best post

Completely agreed

It's like comparing Azharuddin to Ganguly, two completely opposite captains

Misbah is not even good enough to be captain of a domestic side.

 

[Savak]

I like to see captains improve and get better with time and age. I think Sarfaraz went the other way and none of his areas of leadership or captaincy improved.

Then you have his mates in the media filling his head with an untouchable tag, which was a recipe for disaster.

This happens when you don't have competition for your place in the team as a player and as a captain. Ate his way while he could. Disgraceful

 

[Bhaijaan]

Pakistan missed Sarfraz' genius captaincy and expertise in this test

 

[Amoeba]

I was never ever in favour of Sarfraz being test captain. Limited overs skipper was fair enough but he was guilty of the trap that every school kid falls into of following the ball with his field settings.

However he is easily the best keeper batsman Pakistan has ever produced. I don't get why Rizwan is in the test team ahead of him although he is a fine keeper too and in time may prove to be a good test batsman. But right now Safraz is streets ahead.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Even though Sarfraz's captaincy was okayish, his batting was terrible in the last two years. Pak kept losing everything the pressure kept building up.

 

[Bhaijaan]

I was never ever in favour of Sarfraz being test captain. Limited overs skipper was fair enough but he was guilty of the trap that every school kid falls into of following the ball with his field settings.

However he is easily the best keeper batsman Pakistan has ever produced. I don't get why Rizwan is in the test team ahead of him although he is a fine keeper too and in time may prove to be a good test batsman. But right now Safraz is streets ahead.

Never understood the point of picking Sarfraz just so thay he can carry shoes to the ground. If you pick him, you play him. At this age, no point making him a tourist.

 

[saadsahabjee]

he was 100 times better than azhar ali as a captain.

 

[Kaka4pope]

Even though Sarfraz's captaincy was okayish, his batting was terrible in the last two years. Pak kept losing everything the pressure kept building up.

Struggled with being 3 formats captain - that’s a massive job when you are keeper who scores lower order runs. Before captaincy he would bat like 1st innings shadab a lot.

His time is gone in test cricket as Rizwan has great hands but no doubt he was a fighter.

 

[Slog]

His ODI (and T20) captaincy was top class.

I’d say best since Wasim Akram

 

[Kaddy]

In Pakistan, whoever is out of team looks like a world beater.
Pakistan lost home series (in UAE actually) to New Zealand & Sri Lanka under the captaincy of Sarfraz.

 

[hitthestump]

If Safaraz has had the proverbial kick up the backside after being dropped and performs well when he gets his chance, then i would have no problem with him being parachuted straight back into captaincy to replace Azhar.

 

[Bhaijaan]

In Pakistan, whoever is out of team looks like a world beater.
Pakistan lost home series (in UAE actually) to New Zealand & Sri Lanka under the captaincy of Sarfraz.

Not from winning positions bro.

I personally do not consider Frazzy to be a world class cricketer but he was a very good field captain.

 

[Ahmed_99]

Look he was decent at times as test captain but we can't overreact and think that he would have led us to victory today. The most important thing is for the captain to be performing and unfortunately he was struggling but it doesn't help that Azhar isn't scoring much either. I guess we have no choice but to back Azhar for this series against England and then reassess after

 

[Captain]

Doesn't matter you back him or not, he is the Captain for the rest of the series. Irony !

 

[RyanRyan10]

Under Sarfaraz, Pakistan were getting humiliated in UAE. Even a side like SL whitewashed them.

Pakistan had dropped to no.8 in test rankings. They have moved one place up and have a realistic chance of finishing in top 4-5 in WTC.

 

[Hasan]

I said it last year, removing Sarfraz was a silly move. He was a proven captain. Pakistan dip in Tests was a product of losing Younis and Misbah and the fact that we had a very inexperienced bowling attack. We also placed Azhar Ali under too much pressure.

The captaincy today was poor and the way England were allowed to rebuild while Pakistan just stood by and watched was painful.

I feel sorry for Azhar as he is not a natural captain, unlike Sarfraz. He should only be asked to focus on this batting. You cannot change the entire set up of a team and expect to win in a place like England.

PCB and the team management must take a lot of credit for this defeat.

 

[Hasan123]

This guy lost a series to Sri Lanka and New Zealand in UAE. He would have not stopped this defeat.

 

[Hasan]

This guy lost a series to Sri Lanka and New Zealand in UAE. He would have not stopped this defeat.

When you rebuild a side you have to accept defeats. Sarfraz had shown his leadership qualities at under 19, ODI and T20. Test cricket is the most difficult format of the game as it takes time to build a team around a new captain.

What will PCB do if Pakistan lose the series to England, will they change the captain again? I like Azhar Ali but do not think he is a natural captain. His batting is and will continue to suffer and arm chair critics will now be barking for him to be dropped from the side altogether, which would be equally stupid.

 

[hb787]

Lol we are back to brainless captain sarfarz now. Jeeez need more options in the team

 

[fitCricFan]

SA started well as a captain but it was obvious within a year that he neither had the traits nor the character for that role. He was never charismatic to begin with so all this talk about Sarfraz being better than Azhar or someone else is ignoring the obvious.

No need to keep going back to the same failed, non-performing players. SA needs to focus on his batting, his forte and let someone more deserving handle the captain's mantle. Whether its Azhar Ali or someone else, its too early to know

 

[Syed1]

Even on his worst day Sarfaraz was a better captain than this loser Misbah ka lifter Azhar

 

[IMMY69]

One of the craziest decisions was to remove Safaraz from the test captaincy.

He had a crack at T20 and ODI captaincy with reasonable success and you want to have a younger captain then so be it... but what was the point of removing him from the test captaincy? Where is the logic in this?

I’m convinced that had it been Safaraz captaining today we would have won the game.

 

[Hasan]

Lol we are back to brainless captain sarfarz now. Jeeez need more options in the team

A brainless captain does not win you the CT, u19 WC or the domestic T20 championship! You give him a young and significantly depleted Test side and remove him only after a couple of series!

This is nothing short of shortsightedness!

 

[Hasan]

One of the craziest decisions was to remove Safaraz from the test captaincy.

He had a crack at T20 and ODI captaincy with reasonable success and you want to have a younger captain then so be it... but what was the point of removing him from the test captaincy? Where is the logic in this?

I’m convinced that had it been Safaraz captaining today we would have won the game.

Very true! A completely illogical move and now we have a captain who is not really a captain but we cannot remove him either.

This is what is called painting yourself in a corner.