Sarfraz Ahmed

Sarfraz Ahmed Biography

Sarfraz Ahmed is a Pakistani cricketer and the current captain of the team in all formats of the game. He was born on 22^nd May 1987 in Karachi, Sindh. He is the wicket-keeper of the team and bats right-handed.

Sarfraz led the Pakistani team to ICC Champions Trophy glory in 2017.

Background

Sarfraz Ahmed first came into the radar of all concerned when he led the Pakistan U19 team to win the 2006 ICC U19 World Cup. He did not have a good tournament with the bat as he scored only 64 runs in four innings, but he led the side admirably, which was highlighted by the performance in the final where Pakistan defended a paltry 109 against arch rivals India.

Sarfraz then broke into the domestic circuit of Pakistan with 523 runs in 10 matches along with 28 dismissals behind the stumps. The performance earned him a spot in the Pakistan A team squad to tour Australia in 2007.

Debut

Sarfraz was handed his ODI debut against India at Jaipur in 2007. He did not get to bat in his first three games. In fact, he batted only twice in his first eight ODI’s and scored 7 and 19. With only 9 dismissals with the gloves in those games, Sarfraz was dropped.

Sarfraz made his Test debut against Australia at Hobart in 2010. He made 1 and 5, and took four catches.

In the same year, Sarfraz donned the gloves for a T20 in national colours for the first time against England at Dubai. After scoring only 5 in his first two games, he was dropped.

Rise to Glory

Sarfraz’s mission comeback looked to be on course when he hit 74 against Sri Lanka at Dubai in 2014. He averaged 71.20 over the next one and a half years to establish himself as the number one wicket-keeper of the side.

Initially, Sarfraz was not the first-choice wicket-keeper of Pakistan going into the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. He was promoted to open the innings in the must win game against South Africa and he returned with a run-a-ball 49. He hit his maiden ODI century against Ireland in the next game and has not looked back ever since.

However, Sarfraz’s moment of glory came during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy as he became the first Pakistani captain since Imran Khan to win a 50-over world title. After losing to India in the first game, Pakistan bounced back strongly to win all the games including extracting revenge against India in the final to win the tournament.

Low Points

Sarfraz’s batting average in the ODI’s leave much to be desired. He averages only 33.90 after 85 games with only 10 scores above 50. It is one facet of his game he surely would want to improve.

Club Career

Sarfraz captains the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League. He has led his franchise to the final of the tournament in both 2016 and 2017 but could not come out triumphant.

Captaincy

Shahid Afridi was sacked after a poor 2016 ICC World T20 campaign, and the Pakistan Cricket Board appointed Sarfraz as the captain of the T20 team. A year later, he would be given the reigns of the ODI side as Azhar Ali stepped aside.

When Misbah Ul-Haq retired from Test cricket, Sarfraz became the 32^nd captain to lead Pakistan in the longest format of the game.

Under Sarfraz, Pakistan has won 12 out of 19 matches in ODIs and 13 out of 16 matches in T20Is. However, he has lost both the Test matches in which he captained Pakistan.