New Delhi:
Pakistan cricket has seen some massive changes in the last couple of months. Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked after the No.1 ranked Twenty20 side in the world was whitewashed 3-0 for the first time since 2015. Withe results not going Pakistan's way in Tests and T20Is, the decision was made to sack Sarfaraz Ahmed and new captains were appointed. Babar Azam was appointed as the skipper for T20Is while in Tests, Azhar Ali has taken over the reigns.
Sarfaraz was not even picked for the series against Australia and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has this bit of advice. "I don't think the performance and form of a player should be judged by T20 cricket but through Test and One-day cricket. He can come back to the national team, he should focus on domestic cricket," Imran Khan said when asked about Sarfaraz. Regarding the appointment of Misbah as head coach and chief selector, Imran said, "It is a constructive move to appoint Misbah as he is an honest and unbiased personality who has loads of experience behind him. I think Misbah will turn out to be a good choice and Pakistan will improve and do well in Test and ODI cricket under him. He has this talent in him that he can groom the players and also improve their performance," he added.
Imran also supported the new domestic first-class season in which only six provincial teams are competing on home and away basis and said eventually this will lead to a better cricket system in the country.
Sarfaraz took over the captaincy following the retirement of Misbah ul Haq and he led in 13 Tests, winning four but losing eight Tests. Sarfaraz's high point came in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy when he led Pakistan to victory in the final against India but since then, he has endured a torrid time. Pakistan were whitewashed 3-0 in the Tests against South Africa and in the same series, Sarfaraz was banned for four games for a racist taunt against Andile Phehlukwayo.
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In a PCB release, Azhar Ali hailed Sarfaraz's contribution. "Sarfaraz has done an excellent job in transforming raw talent into experienced players and I now look forward to inspiring those skillful players in our endeavours to collectively achieve our World Test Championship objectives and beyond," Azhar said in a statement.
