PCB SHOULD HAVE NAMED SARFARAZ AS VICE-CAPTAIN

PCB SHOULD HAVE NAMED SARFARAZ AS VICE-CAPTAIN:

Rashid Latif, the former Pakistani captain suggests that the former captain of Pakistan, Sarfaraz Ahmed deserves the vice-captaincy of the TEST team more than Muhammad Rizwan because of his recent TEST performances.

The first assignment of the Pakistan team in the new World TEST Championship Cycle is to play an away TEST series against Srilanka next month. The 16-member squad for the two-match TEST series against Srilanka was announced earlier and the squad will tour Pakistan in July under the captain of Babar Azam, the vice-captain of Pakistan’s TEST team is Muhammad Rizwan but Rashid Latif thinks this should’ve changed and PCB should’ve announced Sarfaraz as vice-captain.

The former Pakistani captain, Rashid Latif argues that Sarfaraz Ahmed should’ve been named as the vice-captain of Pakistan’s TEST team rather than Muhammad Rizwan – the argument that Rashid Latif gave on his YouTube channel is that Sarfaraz Ahmed deserves vice-captaincy of TEST team because of his added experience and his recent TEST performance against New Zealand when Rizwan was dropped because of his poor form.

In his latest YouTube video, Rashid Latif says that Sarfaraz Ahmed deserves the leadership role in TEST cricket for Pakistan as he has performed exceptionally in his recent series against New Zealand and he feels that Sarfaraz Ahmed will be in the starting XI of the Pakistan team in Srilanka and that’s why vice-captaincy should’ve been given to Sarfaraz Ahmed.

‘’ Sarfaraz Ahmed is the kind of player that could’ve been named as the vice-captain by the Pakistan Cricket Board on this tour. He is capable and he made a come-back after Rizwan’s drop in TEST form. Sarfaraz Ahmed will be a part of the playing XI due to his previous performances. So, retaining Muhammad Rizwan as the vice-captain of Pakistan’s TEST team is not justified ‘’, he added.

The former captain of Pakistan throws his support behind Babar Azam as the captain of the Pakistan team in all three formats but he believes that Muhammad Rizwan is retained as the vice-captain because he is given a favor by the board or someone else and Sarfaraz Ahmed deserves this position.

‘’ I think Babar Azam should continue to lead Pakistan in all formats. However, don’t give anyone undue favors. If there is anyone more deserving in the leadership role in TESTS, then there is Sarfaraz Ahmed and no one else ‘’, he concluded.

Muhammad Rizwan was the regular one to feature in Pakistan’s TEST team but there was a recent dip in his performance when he averaged just around 20 in his previous TEST series against England and as per some statements, Muhammad Rizwan himself accepted the fact and stepped aside to give Sarfaraz Ahmed a chance to show his talent.

Sarfaraz Ahmed in his recent TEST series against New Zealand made a very impressive return to the Pakistan TEST side, he scored a collective of 335 runs in the series with an impressive average of 84 runs. He was the highest runs scorer of the series and was awarded, the Player of The Series award for his exceptional performances in his comeback series.

• Even though the argument given by Rashid Latif is justified by the performances of Sarfaraz Ahmed, but still why you would make someone your vice-captain who is already at the end stage of his career and has already captained Pakistan in TEST cricket as well – Under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan has played 13 TEST matches and Pakistan lost 8 out of those matches.

SARFARAZ’S PERFORMANCES ON TOUR TO SRILANKA:

The former captain of the Pakistan team, Sarfaraz Ahmed also toured Srilanka many times earlier in his career, he has played five matches on his tour to Srilanka so far, and in the eight innings he played on his tour, he has an exceptional record while playing in Srilanka as he has scored 469 runs at an average of 78 in Srilanka.

RIZWAN’S PERFORMANCES ON TOUR TO SRILANKA:

Muhammad Rizwan was the first choice wicket-keeper batsman to feature in the last TEST tour to Srilanka, he played two matches on the last tour, and in the four innings he played, he scored 120 runs on that tour at an average of 30 but because of his excellent wicket-keeping skills, he took 11 catches behind the stumps – the joint-most catches he ever took in a TEST series.

Pakistan couldn’t win the TEST series against Srilanka in 2022, the series was leveled 1-1, and now Pakistan will look to seal the series this time as the series is very important for Pakistan to make a good start to the next WTC Cycle.