Former Pakistan Test stalwart Misbah-ul-Haq has lauded Sarfraz Ahmed’s captaincy for the national team and has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to announce the wicketkeeper-batsman as skipper for the 2019 ICC World Cup to be held in England.
Sarfraz has been leading Pakistan across all three formats and recently led the team to a 3-0 T20 series whitewash of New Zealand in the UAE.
Despite the men in green enjoying unprecedented success in the T20 cricket with the win over New Zealand being their 11th- consecutive bilateral series win, the PCB has refrained from declaring Sarfraz as the skipper for the global tournament so far.
Recently, PCB’s newly appointed cricket committee chairman Mohsin Khan had raised doubts over Sarfraz’s ability to lead the team across all three formats.
“I have said it before and I will say it now too, with Sarfraz I was saying you got a new guy in and don’t put the burden of three formats on him,” Mohsin Khan had told Hum News recently.
“It will take such a physical load on him, T20s, ODIs and then Tests; if he is captain he will not get any mental relaxation.”
However, Misbah, who led Pakistan admirably in the Test arena, believes Sarfraz should retain the captaincy in all three formats.
Sarfraz led Pakistan to their 11th successive T20 series win.
“Sarfraz is improving as captain with each passing day and has been leading the side very well. All this talk of the captaincy being a burden on him or him facing problems with three formats is absurd. I am very much sure that he will do a great job in the World Cup too,” Misbah was quoted as saying by the ICC.
The doubts over Sarfraz’s captaincy had been raised following the team’s Super Four exit in the recent Asia Cup. The Pakistan skipper’s personal form came under the microscope after two defeats at the hands of arch-rivals India before a crushing loss against Bangladesh.
“I think every team and player experience a bad patch in their career and Asia Cup was that bad patch for Pakistan. I know that that the players would learn from their mistakes and overcome them to excel in all formats from here on. I think this is the right time to announce Sarfraz as captain because we don’t have much time left for the World Cup,” Misbah had to say.
Sarfraz himself remains unperturbed despite the uncertainty surrounding his captaincy.
“What answer can I give to this question since it is not my place? All I can do is keep playing and perform. Who is the captain remains the prerogative of the PCB. I cannot make any decisions on that,” he had stated after Pakistan’s 49-run win over New Zealand in the third and final T20.
