LAHORE — Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed has replaced Shahid Afridi as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Afridi quit as captain Sunday after Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the recent World Twenty20, where it lost three of its four pool matches and failed to reach the semifinals.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis resigned as head coach of the Pakistan team Monday.
Sarfraz was made vice captain of Pakistan’s ODI and Twenty20 international squads last year and the PCB moved quickly to name him as Afridi’s successor in the game’s shortest format.
“I spoke to Sarfraz this morning and conveyed to him that he was our natural choice for this position. His appointment is open-ended. I wish him good luck in his new role,” PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan said in a statement.
Despite resigning as skipper, Afridi said he wanted to continue as a player for the Twenty20 side.
“I am happy to have this opportunity and I am honored that PCB has trusted my ability to lead the country,” Sarfarz was quoted as saying by the Cricinfo website. “Indeed, this is a challenging job but at the same time, it’s the highest privilege in a cricketer’s life, so I am determined to do my best to justify my position as captain. I didn’t make any future plan, but I will sit down with the PCB and will talk about it in due course.
“The best thing about me, I believe, is my ability to contribute to the team. I always try to play my role whatever it is — batting or wicketkeeping — regardless of the situation or the number I bat on. The more important thing about me is that I remain in my limit and don’t talk much. It’s my cricket that speaks, and this is what a captain should be doing — lead form the front.”
Sarfarz showered praise on the outgoing captain Afridi. “I haven’t seen a megastar like Afridi in my cricketing career. He has served Pakistan cricket for 20 years,” he said.
Sarfraz, 28, played in all the four World Twenty20 matches, but batted lower down the order throughout the tournament despite having a good strike rate of 120.24 in 21 Twenty20 internationals.
Sarfraz led Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan’s first professional domestic Twenty20 league in February before losing to the Misbahul Haq-led Islamabad United in the final.
Pakistan is likely to play only three T20 internationals in the remainder of 2016, one against England and two against the world champion West Indies.
Former Test captain Rashid Latif said the PCB should also replace ODI captain Azhar Ali and “bring in Sarfraz” so that the wicketkeeper-batsman could get more experience as a skipper in the international arena.
“Making him captain for only Twenty20 is not enough,” Latif said.
