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This is so unfair to Sarfraz Ahmed

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asifp

ODI Debutant
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
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I know Adnan Akmal is doing well right now and cemented his place in the team, but this is so bloody unfair to Sarfraz Ahmed.

I know some of you will claim that he got his chance and looked poor, but come on, he is called up to play the best team in the world in their home ground, where Pakistan is destroyed and then he is dropped.

On the other hand Adnan Akmal is given chances against Zimb and Bangladesh and in places like UAE.

As a comparison, Adnan Akaml also only managed 27 runs in 2 tests against SA and that even in UAE.

I think Sarfraz deserved better for having such a good domestic record.
 
:facepalm: at your last line, his domestic record matters jack because he has fails to replicate it at the big stage.
 
So what do you want? Drop Adnan for him?
 
Sarfaraz really? The guy doesn't even look club level while batting.
 
Sarfraz is a nothing player. Please don't feel sorry for him.

Ordinary keeper, awful batsman.

Not cut for international cricket.
 
by your logic Asad Shafiq should be dropped for Haris and Umar Amin because they have better domestic records..lol
 
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also batting alone isn't the criteria for tests..your wicketkeeping is very important especially for a side like Pakistan who lot depend on bowling..why'd we drop Kami then?He's best wk batsman we have but we can't rely on his keeping in longer format hence he's dropped..and Sarfraz's keeping is worse than Kami.ant that's a fact! Adnan's the best wk in the country that's why he's preferred..his batting is a bonus.
 
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Sarfraz is a better WK than Kamran, who is the worst WK in the world.
 
overrated keeper... sarfraz can't bat to save his life.... let's be realistic here..
 
MRSN said:
by your logic Asad Shafiq should be dropped for Haris and Umar Amin because they have better domestic records..lol
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I can tell you if guys like Fawad Alam and Harris Sohail are given the same number of chances as Asad Shafiq they will be better than him.
 
actually adnan was unfairly dropped . He actually saved Pakistan a test match with fractured finger with shafiq
 
Yeah Adnan was unfairly dropped the guy is our best keeper was dropped for Sarfraz as supposedly sarfaraz is supposedly a better batsman. Didn't do anything with the bat so why pick him over Adnan

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
 
Adnan Akmal has proved himself. He's a very good keeper and a gritty batsman.

Sarfraz looks boring, unimaginative and average, despite the FC record. I'd go with Adnan any day.
 
Sarfaraz Ahmed's selection for The SAF tour was unfair towars Adnan Akmal, as the latter did not deserve to get dropped in the first place.

So your argument is not valid.
 
I think Sarfraz didn't have the confidence of the bowlers. I don't think he could pick Ajmal and that's what went against him.
 
I'm unconvinced by Sarfraz's batting whenever I have watched him bat.

I've heard that he has the shots, has a good technique and good temperament but really we are yet to see that in international cricket.
 
The only thing I would have against Adnan is that he is an Akmal. He reminds me of the Aussie tour humiliation and the stunts pulled by his brothers...and the stunts they still seem to pull every once in a while. Other than that, he is an impressive keeper and gritty with the bat.

Sarfaraz was alright even in the limited overs leg of the Zim series but he constantly had me mulling over if I'd seen a fatter wicketkeeper. I guess Dhoni comes close...
 
Valid argument. Adnan should have been picked for the SA tour, but obviously the management/selector's did not want his weak batting skills exposed. Thus, he was 'mysteriously' dropped against SA and picked once again against a weak ZIM team. Brilliant strategy.
 
lol some people are making his 60 look like very easy..I bet Sarfraz would have manage to get lbw before he crossed double figures even in this game the way Zim seamers were seaming in..look at Asad/Azhar/Khurrum's dismissals for example.
 
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Yaasir said:
Valid argument. Adnan should have been picked for the SA tour, but obviously the management/selector's did not want his weak batting skills exposed. Thus, he was 'mysteriously' dropped against SA and picked once again against a weak ZIM team. Brilliant strategy.
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Not sure how Adnan would have performed in South Africa, but I'm sure he'd rather have been there than at home watching it on TV.
 
Saj said:
I'm unconvinced by Sarfraz's batting whenever I have watched him bat.

I've heard that he has the shots, has a good technique and good temperament but really we are yet to see that in international cricket.
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I think PP should do an investigation piece on how Sarfraz Ahmed was able to average 47 in Pakistan domestics. Its looks impossible looking at how he plays in international matches.
 
Saj said:
Not sure how Adnan would have performed in South Africa, but I'm sure he'd rather have been there than at home watching it on TV.
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Adnan being dropped for SA tour is a mystery itself. I think the official reason was that he was unfit, yet he was playing domestic.
 
srh said:
I think PP should do an investigation piece on how Sarfraz Ahmed was able to average 47 in Pakistan domestics. Its looks impossible looking at how he plays in international matches.
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Pakistan domestic cricket is itself a mystery. Some of the cricket is substandard, some of the pitches are substandard and some of the cricketers it is producing is substandard.
 
As long as we have a keeper who is doing his main job and not only scoring runs with the bat but actually fighting it out in tough circumstances I could care less

Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk 4
 
asifp said:
I know Adnan Akmal is doing well right now and cemented his place in the team, but this is so bloody unfair to Sarfraz Ahmed.

I know some of you will claim that he got his chance and looked poor, but come on, he is called up to play the best team in the world in their home ground, where Pakistan is destroyed and then he is dropped.

On the other hand Adnan Akmal is given chances against Zimb and Bangladesh and in places like UAE.

As a comparison, Adnan Akaml also only managed 27 runs in 2 tests against SA and that even in UAE.

I think Sarfraz deserved better for having such a good domestic record.
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He even play against Zim he will make 10 or 20 runs he's a joke of cricket
 
Adnan is an excellent keeper. He is yet to cost us a match and so far he has had more than satisfactory innings with the bat. He has a fighter gene in him which is what matters. He doesn't shy away from pressure.
 
he has dropped a couple of dollies but so has Sarfraz Ahmed so Adnan>Sarfraz no doubt
 
Wow! How things have changed. This man went on to lead Pakistan to Champions Trophy glory 2017. I did not rate him at all and neither did many others on this thread but he's proved us all wrong:)
 
Did anything smell anything fishy back then when Pakistan kept picking Akmal for the 'easy' games in the UAE and in the likes of Sri Lanka, while only selecting Sarfraz for the away series in Australia / South Africa? Adnan would obviously be mysteriously 'injured' or dropped on those occasions.
 
hadi123 said:
Wow! How things have changed. This man went on to lead Pakistan to Champions Trophy glory 2017. I did not rate him at all and neither did many others on this thread but he's proved us all wrong:)
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Because, in Pakistan, people don't necessarily base their reasoning on facts and quantifiable data.

Every once in a while I hear 'cricket experts' claiming that cricket is not played on spreadsheets but as a matter of fact; just as any other aspect of our lives, cricketing prowess even things like captaincy, skill (batting/bowling), fitness, intuition etc etc all can be quantified into numerical data - EVERY GOD DAMN THING.

Sarfaraz should've been trusted with the captaincy well before 2017, he was genuinely ready to lead by 2014 but because seniors and people who run cricket aka 'experts' knew better, we had to wait another excruciating 3 years for the transition to finally happen.

You don't lead an U-19 side to a WC win without ability and Sarfraz did that in 2006, 11 years ago....... Virat Kohli, who won an U-19 WC in 2008 was entrusted with captaincy of the Indian team in 2015, two years before Sarfraz.

One board took more than a decade to realize the potential of their best in line captain, while the other even with players like Dhoni, Yuvraj, Ghambir, Sachin in the side transitioned theirs in a little more than 6 years and we all know which, between either of the two boards, relies on data and factual information to make executive decisions in cricket.

As for us, and thank Allah for that we hired Micky otherwise we would've still be playing with Hakeem Lukman's version of LOI cricket.
 
Varun said:
Did anything smell anything fishy back then when Pakistan kept picking Akmal for the 'easy' games in the UAE and in the likes of Sri Lanka, while only selecting Sarfraz for the away series in Australia / South Africa? Adnan would obviously be mysteriously 'injured' or dropped on those occasions.
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There was nothing 'smells fishy' about it. What was happening was blatantly obvious

I and a few others had pointed this out back then only.

Also the Akmal mafia was in full force in those days

Sarfaraz would get all the tough away tours including South Africa and Australia whereas Adnan Akmal would get all the UAE series.

similarly, Umar Akmal would not accept the gloves in ODIs at crucial times and Kamran Akmal would get a call as a result
 
Lol at the responses to this thread. Someone should send this to Sarfaraz.
 
Sarfraz was playing like a rabbit in headlights back in those days..... then in one particular series he managed to bring his first class game (batting) to the test arena and sent the akmals packing...

Despite my criticism of Sarfraz today, I was thankful that he finally dislodged the Akmal hoodoo...
 
Slog said:
There was nothing 'smells fishy' about it. What was happening was blatantly obvious

I and a few others had pointed this out back then only.

Also the Akmal mafia was in full force in those days

Sarfaraz would get all the tough away tours including South Africa and Australia whereas Adnan Akmal would get all the UAE series.

similarly, Umar Akmal would not accept the gloves in ODIs at crucial times and Kamran Akmal would get a call as a result
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please don't make it a case of lahore vs karachi. adnan was simply performing better at that time. credit to sarfraz for turning his career around and grabbing his opportunity when it arose. it is not as if he was doing well in asia at that time. he played odis in pak and in uae but failed.
 
Leo23 said:
please don't make it a case of lahore vs karachi. adnan was simply performing better at that time. credit to sarfraz for turning his career around and grabbing his opportunity when it arose. it is not as if he was doing well in asia at that time. he played odis in pak and in uae but failed.
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He won us Asia cup 2012

Also it's not even that. The matches he played he was a lamb to the slaughter. Adnan would have surely done as bad and most likely worse
 
ahmedwaqas92 said:
Sarfaraz should've been trusted with the captaincy well before 2017, he was genuinely ready to lead by 2014 but because seniors and people who run cricket aka 'experts' knew better, we had to wait another excruciating 3 years for the transition to finally happen.

You don't lead an U-19 side to a WC win without ability and Sarfraz did that in 2006, 11 years ago....... Virat Kohli, who won an U-19 WC in 2008 was entrusted with captaincy of the Indian team in 2015, two years before Sarfraz.

One board took more than a decade to realize the potential of their best in line captain, while the other even with players like Dhoni, Yuvraj, Ghambir, Sachin in the side transitioned theirs in a little more than 6 years and we all know which, between either of the two boards, relies on data and factual information to make executive decisions in cricket.

.
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Sarfraz should have been the captain after 2011 world cup. He deserved the captaincy back then and a permanent place before then. Akmals were poor and there was no other wicketkeeper batsman as good as him. Few bad matches in 2007 and he was never given the chance again. He is the same wicketkeeper batsman as he was then.

We have wasted 5 years each of Sarfraz, Babar and Haris.
 
He has come a long way since. Captain in all 3 formats and a very good batter.
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
Sarfraz should have been the captain after 2011 world cup. He deserved the captaincy back then and a permanent place before then. Akmals were poor and there was no other wicketkeeper batsman as good as him. Few bad matches in 2007 and he was never given the chance again. He is the same wicketkeeper batsman as he was then.

We have wasted 5 years each of Sarfraz, Babar and Haris.
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And it was criminal not to give him the captaincy after 2015 because some great talent identifiers referred Azhar Ali. One of those greats treated him trash in 2015 wc just to receive the embarrassment after Sarfraz proved to be the best Pakistani batsman in wc.
 
Mamoon said:
Sarfraz is a nothing player. Please don't feel sorry for him.

Ordinary keeper, awful batsman.

Not cut for international cricket.
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We are all wrong so I won't point out at you and act pompous, but this is still pretty funny my friend.
 
Adnan Akmal was and still is better keeper than Sarfraz but Sarfraz is far better batsman.
 
Thankfully I was the one among his backers from past 6-7 years.
 
Thankfully I never knew Sarfraz's name till his performance in the 2015 WC vs SA.
 
waleed88 said:
This :))
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?
Its funny how fans who just recently started watching cricket sit here and judge comments from 2013.
Sarfraz was the worst batsmen ever. The guy was a walking wicket. He lacked confidence had no idea what to do on crease.

But then there is a thing called improvement.

Who knows, 5 years from now, Umar Amin could be a star player, but then idiots around here will be bumping threads from 2010 saying oh look people critisized him(when in reality it was justified as he sucked back then)

Hindsight is funny thing.
 
To this day, I believe Adnan was a better player than sarfaraz behind the stumps. But I am glad he was dropped and sarfraz given the opportunity because he has done wonders for the team
 
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Sarfraz should have have been given more chances after the Asia Cup 2012.
 
Always rated Sarfraz ever since I saw him debut in 2007 against India, was eagerly awaiting his debut after his captaincy led us to the u-19 WC. I actually thought we'd get rid of the Kamran from behind the stumps then but instead 2 more of his brothers became keepers for Pakistan and hung onto the gloves like leaches. After his match-winning knock in the 2012 Asia Cup I thought he'd finally be selected on a regular basis but the Akmal trio snaked their way in again.

Sarfraz was never as terrible with the bat as same people try to suggest, it's just that a players performance should not be looked at in isolation, there are too many externalities at play. You can't just pick a player for a one-off game and expect to perform like Afridi on debut. You can't just play a player in alien conditions and expect to play with confidence when he hasn't been in the team for a very long time.

Sarfraz persevered because he was too good not to, even on his comeback he wasn't given a proper chance. After performing in the back-end of 2014 against Sri Lanka and being one of our best batsmen against Australia and New Zealand he wasn't picked in the starting eleven of the world cup where Umar Akmal dropped 6 catches in our first 3 games though he kept well in the 4th against Zimbabwe and I thought Sarfraz would never be picked even with Nasir Jamshed playing atrociously at the top. After that what Sarfraz did on such a grand stage he couldn't be kept out.

Our fans look at everything in isolation don't see anything from the players perspective, Sarfraz proved them all wrong but now we're doing the same with Rizwan. Based on a few performances in alien conditions down-under where he came in the last few overs and was expected to belt the ball out of the park against Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins he has been labelled a failure. We have ignored the fact that none of our batsmen apart from Sharjeel were able to play at an accelerated rate. He has been one of the best batsmen in the national t20 cup for a dominant peshawar, he was one the Qalandar's best batsmen in the PSL. But no one will rate him till he performs a miracle overlooking the fact that even golden boy Babar struggled in Australia with continuous opportunities initially.
 
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Very happy for him.

Was one of few back then to support him, Anyways he needs to show some guts as a captain and drop seniors, Should be batting at no less than #5 in LOIs.
 
Major said:
?
Its funny how fans who just recently started watching cricket sit here and judge comments from 2013.
Sarfraz was the worst batsmen ever. The guy was a walking wicket. He lacked confidence had no idea what to do on crease.

But then there is a thing called improvement.

Who knows, 5 years from now, Umar Amin could be a star player, but then idiots around here will be bumping threads from 2010 saying oh look people critisized him(when in reality it was justified as he sucked back then)

Hindsight is funny thing.
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walking wicket in 2013 and still won Asia cup final 2012. LOL!
Also you are one of those who give great emphasis to domestics then how can a walking wicket averages in high 30s early 40s in domestic at that time?

Just few international matches in difficult conditions and he is a walking wicket. Wowwww!
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
walking wicket in 2013 and still won Asia cup final 2012. LOL!
Also you are one of those who give great emphasis to domestics then how can a walking wicket averages in high 30s early 40s in domestic at that time?

Just few international matches in difficult conditions and he is a walking wicket. Wowwww!
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:facepalm: the whole post wentover your head...
 
Before Sharjah test, Sarfraz indeed looked out of depth both with bat and gloves even against the likes of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, not least in his only significant innings where he edged his way to 40 odd. In that context, there was nothing unfair happening to him.
 
Major said:
?
Its funny how fans who just recently started watching cricket sit here and judge comments from 2013.
Sarfraz was the worst batsmen ever. The guy was a walking wicket. He lacked confidence had no idea what to do on crease.

But then there is a thing called improvement.

Who knows, 5 years from now, Umar Amin could be a star player, but then idiots around here will be bumping threads from 2010 saying oh look people critisized him(when in reality it was justified as he sucked back then)

Hindsight is funny thing.
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The guy has barely played in the top order, that could be a contributing factor, he bated as a tailender till 2014 in odis how can a guy grow as a batsman when not even given the proper chance
 
Even Sarf as on Odi bat played at no.8 under Misbah... the only thing that changed him was the confidence he got from maghrib chase, he went stregnth to strenght from that
 
srh said:
I think PP should do an investigation piece on how Sarfraz Ahmed was able to average 47 in Pakistan domestics. Its looks impossible looking at how he plays in international matches.
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I think PP should do investigative piece on people who have been proven wrong, the so called arm chair experts here who are able to right off players so quickly as though they are Imran khan
 
Mamoon said:
Sarfraz is a nothing player. Please don't feel sorry for him.

Ordinary keeper, awful batsman.

Not cut for international cricket.
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Did you say same thing about junaid Khan before the champions trophy ... give yourself a round of applause :)
 
waleed88 said:
The guy has barely played in the top order, that could be a contributing factor, he bated as a tailender till 2014 in odis how can a guy grow as a batsman when not even given the proper chance
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guy was a joke of a batsmen. He simply lacked confidence.

Moin Khan installed confidence in him
 
Logical said:
^ You do realize he said that 4 years ago..
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Yes, but it was predicted that "he is not cut for international cricket". We now know that he is indeed cut for itm never write a player off like that.
 
Although he was hard done by in ODI's, was dropped unfairly after SL and Bang series from ODI's in 2011, then playing a wonderful knock in Asia Cup 2012, he was dropped again sometime later. But in Tests back then, he simply was not acclimated to Test Cricket. He looked short on confidence and didn't seem to know how to pace his innings. Plus he was never a regular batsman everyone expects from a keeper to be. Someone who bats at no7 and wacks a few hits here and there and gives the inning a late impetus. He just simply was never a batsman like that, maybe his lack of confidence stemmed to management wanting him to play that way or could have been something else. But yes, in Tests he simply wasn't able to stand on his own, until the unfortunate or should i say fortunate injury for Adnan Akmal.
I can read posters saying Misbah was against him and stuff, but it was him who really saw the sort of batsman he was and not a dasher, who decided to promote him up the order at no. 5 during that 302 run chase in 2 sessions. Afterwards, he grew into his own and was able to make his presence felt. But yes, back in 2011 or 2012, I never thought he would become as good a Test player he is now.
 
I think, Kamran's failure with gloves worked against Sarfraz. Adnan was clearly better WK, and the nightmares that KAkmal gave in his last few years - may be that encouraged Selectors & team management to go for the better glovesman as replacement. Criminal was to appoint Azhar ODI Captain in after WC, instead of Sarfraz.
 
MMHS said:
I think, Kamran's failure with gloves worked against Sarfraz. Adnan was clearly better WK, and the nightmares that KAkmal gave in his last few years - may be that encouraged Selectors & team management to go for the better glovesman as replacement. Criminal was to appoint Azhar ODI Captain in after WC, instead of Sarfraz.
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I think we should say Thank You to Misbah Sir for that.
 
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