The home T20I series loss against Sri Lanka has proved expensive for Sarfaraz Ahmed as he lost his position in the team. Now, he will not lead the team in T20I and Test matches. The team is handed over to Babar Azam and Azhar Ali in T20I and Test matches respectively.
The Sri Lanka team, which recently toured Pakistan, was inexperienced and was successful in winning the three-match T20I series. The visitors clean-swept Pakistan in the home ground. This had put Sarfaraz under questions for his captaincy and his performance. He also lost his wickets early. The newly appointed coach Misbah-ul-Haq was also disappointed by Sarfaraz’s performance.
Former Pakistan cricketers didn’t agree to remove Sarfaraz from T20I leadership. Some said that he should continue leadership in the shortest format and some didn’t agree to make Babar Azam as T20I captain.
Shoaib Malik Should be appointed as the captain: Shahid Afridi
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi opined that Shoaib Malik should be appointed the T20I captain rather than Babar Azam.
“No doubt Babar Azam is the backbone of the team, he is a consistent performer. However, given that the T20I World Cup is coming up, giving the T20I captaincy to Shoaib Malik would have been a more sensible move. The best move would have been to appoint Shoaib Malik as captain till the World Cup,” Afridi was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
Shoaib Malik has led the team in 20 T20Is and has 13 victories. He has been a satisfactory captain in the shortest format. He retired from ODI after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Pakistan had a disappointing World Cup 2019 which has raised the question on Sarfaraz’s captaincy and then defeat in Sri Lanka series has cost him. There was news that Sarfaraz was asked to step down from captaincy post before being sacked. Sarfaraz Ahmed disagreed to do so and then he was removed from the position.