Shahid Afridi Feels Sarfaraz Ahmed Can’t Manage the Pressure of Captaining Three Formats

Former Pakistan captains Zaheer Abbas and Shahid Afridi feel that Sarfaraz Ahmed should be removed from the Test captaincy of Pakistan. However, he can continue to lead the national team in white-ball formats.

While talking to the media in Karachi, Afridi shared his thought on Sarfaraz. He said that while the decision to retain him as captain in the limited-overs game was sensible but he is not the good choice for the longer format of the game.

“I think it would be better for him if Sarfaraz didn’t become the Test captain because I think captaining in three formats is a big burden for him. He is naturally inclined to be a successful captain in the limited over cricket formats,” Shahid Afridi said.

Sarfaraz Ahmed has been leading Pakistan in all three formats since 2017 after the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq. However, he has faced plenty of criticism in the longest format where Pakistan slipped to 7th place in the ICC rankings. He even faced criticism after their not so good show in the ICC World Cup this year.

Legendary Zaheer Abbas also said a similar thing for Sarfaraz.

“I don’t think he can manage the pressure of captaining in three formats. He would be better off only managing the ODI and T20 formats,” Zaheer said. “Test cricket is the most difficult format in cricket and it is not easy captaining in this format. Sarfaraz should be allowed to focus on 50-overs and T20 cricket.”

Zaheer Abbas further said that the PCB and selectors should look at other options for the test match captaincy. He even opposed the decision to make Misbah-ul-Haq the head coach and chief selector. As he thinks both the posts should remain mutually exclusive.

“I think there will be lot of pressure on Misbah handling both things plus he doesn’t have coaching experience at the top level,” he added.