Disappointed Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed believes losing explosive left-handed opener Sharjeel Khan to the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) spot-fixing scandal, is a huge blow for Pakistan cricket.
The 30-year-old gloveman is leading his way into the two-match Test series, before the limited-overs series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) against Sri Lanka.
“Pakistan lost a talented opener in Sharjeel Khan due to that scandal as he could have served Pakistan cricket for a longer time,” Sarfraz, who expressed a concern was quoted as saying by Dawn.
The bilateral series will kick start with the first Test slated for September 28 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Pertinently, Sarfraz was felicitated by the Lahore-based Sports Journalists Association (SJAL) while considering Pakistan’s maiden ICC Champion Trophy triumph in England recently.
The spot-fixing scandal had taken Pakistan by surprise when it surfaced in February after the culmination of curtain rise for the second edition of PSL in UAE. The investigation from PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit grilled at least six Pakistani international players which also included Khalid Latif, who was handed over a ban of five years alongside Sharjeel recently.
While speaking about the possibilities of India-Pakistan bilateral series, Sarfraz stated the counterparts from India are also interested in playing against Pakistan, as he expects it is bound to happen in the foreseeable future.
“I think the Indian players also want to play against Pakistan and hopefully it will happen in the near future,” Sarfraz believes.
The newly-appointed Test skipper Sarfraz revealed it wouldn’t be an easy task to lead the side in a longer format, as he started he is aiming to consider the planning game after another.
“As a captain, I don’t have long-term targets in my mind as it is better to go with short targets,” Sarfraz admitted.
Having the major ICC trophy under his belt as a leader, Sarfraz reiterated he is looking forward to learning from the experience when he played under the leadership of Misbah-Ul-Haq.
“So I want to take it series by series to maintain the good work, which Misbah-ul-Haq used to do as captain after he had had taken over the reins of the team in difficult times in 2010,” Sarfraz maintained.
Sarfraz made the admission by saying the services of the two senior campaigners will be missed, and it would eventually take some time to fill in the role, in the traditional format while adding the reliance would be on Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.
“Yes the absence of Younis and Misbah will surely make a difference and it will take some time to fill their gap. But we have some good batsmen who will hopefully perform well in the series,” Sarfraz concluded.