Pakistan's new T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmad believes that the upcoming three-match T20 series against West Indies in the UAE will be an ideal way to rebuild his side and test out new combinations.
Sarfraz, who captained Pakistan in their win over England in the lone T20 at Manchester, was optimistic about the team’s future. "We have some exciting young players and they made their presence felt in England and this is a good sign for our future," he said.
The wicket-keeper batsman was happy about playing the T20 world champions and told the press,“It is good we are playing three T20 matches against the world champions. It will give us the opportunity to try out different combinations and give more exposure to the younger players,” he said.
Sarfraz further said that the series against the West Indies would be a tough challenge for his side. “They have some really good specialist players for this format and we know what they are capable off. It will not be an easy series for us,” he said. “That is good for us because we need to face tough competition while rebuilding the combination.”
Also read: Misbah-ul-Haq opens up on his fateful scoop shot played in the final of the 2007 World T20
Sarfraz believes that even without the likes of the hard-hitting players like Chris Gayle and Andre Russel, West Indies remains an extremely strong outfit. The young captain said that he wants to lead by example and feels no pressure leading the national side .
“I have captained the Pakistan under-19 side in the youth World Cup and also lead the Karachi and PIA teams regularly in domestic cricket. Plus the experience of leading the Quetta Gladiators team in the Pakistan Super League in the presence of some big names was a big learning curve for me. My job is to lift the players, assign them a role and push them to meet that target. On a personal level obviously, I have always believed in leading by example,”
Sarfraz also heaped praise on captain Misbah and said he learnt a lot from him.
“Misbah has been one of our finest captains and I have learnt a lot by watching him do his job. He is a calm, shrewd and composed leader even under pressure who has the respect of his players and I want to follow in his footsteps as well,” he added.
Pakistan play three T20s against West Indies starting from 23rd September, which will be followed by ODIs and as many Tests, including a day-night Test.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
