Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed defended his aggressive style of captaincy and insisted his players don’t have an issue with his style after the wicketkeeper batsman was criticised in some quarters for losing his cool too often and admonishing his players for almost every indiscretion.
Sarfraz’s behavior came in focus during the second T20 of the recently concluded tour of New Zealand where he walked up to star bowler Hasan Ali after the quick was hit for a boundary as the hosts chased 202, only for the seamer to ignore his captain and continue walking back to his mark.
That incident has become the focal point of discussions surrounding Sarfraz’s leadership. But the man himself played down the incident during a TV interview, insisting such incidents shouldn’t be blown out of proportion as the team understands his intentions.
“Whatever happens in the ground, I don’t do it deliberately. Neither at club level, Under-19 or first-class. Yes, I get a bit too involved in the match. Some people like it, some don’t. I try to make sure my style (of functioning) remains the same),” Sarfraz told Pakistan’s Samaa TV.
“These things happen sometimes but the players are very understanding and they don’t mind it.”
Pakistan become number one in ICC T20 Rankings after defeating New Zealand 2-1 in the series. This is Pakistan's 5th consecutive series win since the WT20 2016 plus a one-off victory in Manchester. Sarfraz Ahmed has never lost a series as captain. #NZvPak
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) January 28, 2018
When asked specifically about the incident with pacer Ali, the gloveman said the 23-year-old is a team man and there are no issues between the two.
“Whatever happened with Hasan Ali, it was a matter of a couple of minutes and ended there. I spoke to him later on as well. There is no issue. It finished then and there and I hope it won’t happen again. Hasan is a team-man and puts his heart and soul into it,” Sarfraz added.
While Pakistan are currently the No1 team in the world in T20 cricket, captain Sarfraz is not exactly feeling on top of the world.
After suffering a sobering 2-0 Test series defeat in the UAE against Sri Lanka, Ahmed oversaw a 5-0 thrashing in the recent ODI series in New Zealand before his side fought back in the subsequent T20 series to register a 2-1 win.