Sarfraz Ahmed

Sarfraz Ahmed
Personal information
Full name Sarfraz Ahmed
Born (1987-05-22) 22 May 1987
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Nickname Saifi, Saffu
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right-arm off break
Role Wicket keeper-batsman, Pakistan captain
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 198) 14 January 2010 v Australia
Last Test 7 October 2018 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 156) 18 November 2007 v India
Last ODI 26 September 2018 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no. 54
T20I debut (cap 36) 19 February 2010 v England
Last T20I 8 July 2018 v Australia
T20I shirt no. 54
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005/06 – 2015/16 Karachi Dolphins
2005/06 – 2006/07 Karachi Harbour
2006/07 – 2008/09 Sindh
2006/07 – present Pakistan International Airlines
2016 – present Quetta Gladiators (squad no. 54)
2017 – present Yorkshire (squad no. 56)
2017 Khulna Titans
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC
Matches 41 90 48 141
Runs scored 2,267 1,748 711 7,233
Batting average 37.78 34.27 29.62 40.40
100s/50s 3/14 2/8 0/3 10/50
Top score 112 105 89* 213*
Balls bowled – 12 – 4
Wickets – 0 – –
Bowling average – – – 7.50
5 wickets in innings – – – –
10 wickets in match – – – –
Best bowling – – – –
Catches/stumpings 115/18 92/22 25/8 440/46
Source: ESPN Cricinfo, 7 October 2018

Sarfraz Ahmed (Urdu: سرفراز احمد‬‎; born 22 May 1987) is a wicketkeeper-batsman who plays international cricket for Pakistan and is also the current captain of the Pakistan cricket team in all 3 formats of the game. Sarfraz was named as Pakistan's Twenty20 International captain following the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India,[1] while he was named Pakistan's ODI Captain on 9 February 2017 after Azhar Ali stepped down.[2] He took up the Test captaincy mantle for his team following the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq and became the 32nd Test captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team doing so. In addition to his captaincy duties, he led Pakistan to Champions Trophy glory in June 2017.[3] In March 2018, on Pakistan Day, Sarfraz became the youngest cricketer to be awarded with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz.[4]

In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).[5][6]

International career

One Day International

Sarfraz's notable achievement during the early days of his career was winning the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006 where he led the Pakistani team and defeated India in the final in a low-scoring encounter,

Sarfraz was called up by Pakistan as a cover for Kamran Akmal who had a finger injury in the one-day series between India and Pakistan in November 2007. He made his ODI debut in the final match of the series, on 18 November 2007. He didn't get a chance to bat as Pakistan had won the match before he was needed to bat.

In 2008, Sarfraz was selected ahead of Kamran Akmal for the Asia Cup.

In 2015, Sarfraz was selected for 2015 Cricket World Cup but did not get a chance to play in the first four matches. Due to the first frequent losses, he was selected for Pakistan's fifth match of the event against South Africa where he scored 49 runs off 49 balls and took 6 catches as wicket-keeper to equal the one day international record for most dismissals(6 dismissals).[7] Also he equalled Adam Gilchrist's record for the most dismissals as a wicketkeeper in a single World Cup innings(6)[8] He was rewarded with the Man of the Match award. In his second match in the world cup he scored 101* against Ireland and he was again named the Man of the Match. The win gave Pakistan a spot in the Quarterfinals of the World Cup.

Test

He made his Test match debut in Hobart on 14 January 2010, in the third Test match against Australia, replacing Kamran Akmal who suffered an "error-ridden performance" in the second Test.[9] He was dropped again after one match.

Return to international cricket (2011)

Sarfraz returned to the international team for the ODI series against Sri Lanka in November 2011 and for the subsequent series against Bangladesh and the Asia Cup. In the final of the tournament he scored a crucial 46 not out (the highest score from his team) as Pakistan won the match by 2 runs. He was consequently rewarded a Category C contract and selected for Pakistan's next series against Sri Lanka, again for T20s

Vice-captaincy

After Misbah retired from the ODI format of the game after 2015 Cricket World Cup, Sarfraz was emerging to be a potential successor. However the PCB went with Azhar Ali for the captaincy and considering Sarfraz led the Pakistan U-19 team, appointed him as the vice captain of the ODI team.

Sri Lanka Test series (2015)

During the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, Sarfraz stabilized the Pakistan innings with a knock of 96 runs in just 85 balls, falling just four runs short of a century when he was bowled by Sri Lankan pacer Dhammika Prasad. During his knock he became the 7th Pakistani wicketkeeper to reach 1000 Test runs, in 28 inns, jointly the fastest Pakistani wicket-keeper with Imtiaz Ahmed. The knock also earned him the Man of the Match award.

Sarfraz was dropped from the T20 series that followed the Test series against Sri Lanka. Many fans back home were shocked and started to raise questions.[10] Pakistani coach Waqar Younis said on 6 August that Sarfraz is a key Pakistani player and he should be the next T20 captain of Pakistan.[11]

Zimbabawe ODI series (2015)

Due to a foot injury sustained by usual One day captain Azhar Ali, Sarfraz became the captain for the third ODI against Zimbabwe on 5 October 2015. He recorded first win in his debut match as captain.

PSL

Sarfraz was picked by Quetta Gladiators in the PSL players draft on 21 December 2015. He was selected to be the franchise captain for the 2016 season. He led the Gladiators all the way through to the final, losing only two matches before it. But still his team just couldn't make it and they lost in the final to Islamabad United.[12]In the second season he once again led Quetta to the final, but Quetta lost by 58 runs against Peshawar. Which meant that Quetta had lost the PSL final for the second time in a row.[13]In the third season Quetta Gladiators did not manage to qualify for the final, but instead were defeated by Peshawar Zalmi by 1 run in the first eliminator.[14]

T-10 Career

In the inaugural edition of the t-10 league, held in UAE he was the captain of the team Bengal Tigers[15], but he was not so successful there as Bengal Tigers finished fourth by the end of the tournament.[16]

Captaincy

T20I Captaincy

After a horrendous T20 World Cup 2016 campaign, the T20I captain Shahid Afridi was sacked and the PCB appointed Sarfraz captain of the national T20 team on 5 April 2016. He won his first match in the only T20I against England by nine wickets.[17] Later his team defeated the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 champions, West Indies with a whitewash in a 3 match series. Pakistan is Number 1 in T20 Internationals. Pakistan has not lost a single series under Sarfraz's captaincy. Recently they defeated scotland (2-0). Pakistan makes a world record by bowling Scotland out 24 times in T20I under Sarfraz. In addition Sarfraz's career best 89 helped Pakistan to beat Scotland in first T20I. Pakistan had also recorded unbeaten 9 series win after the 2018 Zimbabwe Tri-Nation Series under the captaincy of Sarfraz.

ODI Captaincy

On 9 February 2017 following the resignation of then captain Azhar Ali from ODI captaincy, Sarfraz Ahmed was chosen to succeed him thus making him a full time limited overs captain of Pakistan. He was also made vice-captain for the Pakistan Test team. In his first series as ODI captain, Pakistan beat West Indies 2–1[18]

His first major tournament as the captain was 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. In the pool matches, Pakistan lost to India, but went on to win against South Africa and Sri Lanka to enter semi-finals. In the semi-final, Pakistan beat the hosts England comprehensively to enter Pakistan's first Champions Trophy final. In the final against arch-rivals India, Pakistan posted a massive total of 338 and won the match convincingly to become the champions.[19]

Test Captaincy

On 28 September 2017, against Sri Lanka, he became the 32nd captain of Pakistan in Tests.[20]Sri Lanka won the Test series 2–0. It was Pakistan's first whitewash in the United Arab Emirates, and only their second whitewash in a home series, after losing 3–0 to Australia in October 2002.[21]. Sarfraz has not played many tests as a Captain but has lead the side to a satisfactory performance.

Awards

  • Sitara-e-Imtiaz (3rd highest civilian award given to Pakistani citizens)
  • PCB's Outstanding Player of the year: 2017[22]
  • PCB's Spirit of cricket award: 2018[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Sarfraz Ahmed named Pakistan's T20I captain". ESPN Cricifno. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Azhar Ali quits as Pakistan ODI captain".
  3. ↑ "Smashed, broken and crumbled: The tale of Pakistan's runaway success against a star-studded India exactly a year ago". 18 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Sarfraz awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz on Pakistan Day". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "PCB Central Contracts 2018–19". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "New central contracts guarantee earnings boost for Pakistan players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Records | One-Day Internationals | Wicketkeeping records | Most dismissals in an innings | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Cricket Records | Records | World Cup | Most dismissals in an innings". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Saga ends as dropped Kamran heads for a rest". 13 January 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010. His unimpressive batting saw him dropped from the team after just one match.
  10. ↑ "Dropping Sarfraz Ahmed: PCB seeks answer from Shahid Afridi". thenewstribe. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Sarfraz should become next T20 captain: Waqar Younis". The Express Tribune. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "Islamabad crowned PSL champions". The Express Tribune. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  13. ↑ Sarfraz Ali (5 March 2017). "PSL 2017 final: Peshawar beat Quetta by 58 runs, crowned champions". Daily Pakistan. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Eliminator 1 (N), Pakistan Super League at Lahore, Mar 20 2018 | Match Report | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  15. ↑ "T-10 squads".
  16. ↑ "T10 League Table - 2017 - ESPN". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  17. ↑ Only T20I (N), Pakistan tour of England and Ireland at Manchester, Sep 7 2016 | Match Summary. ESPNCricinfo (2016-09-07). Retrieved on 2017-10-12.
  18. ↑ "Rebuilding Pakistan need aggressive Sarfraz Ahmed, says Shahid Afridi". Express Tribune.
  19. ↑ "New champions: Zaman, Amir and Pakistan raze India for title". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Sarfraz's Pakistan look to build on Misbah's reign". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  21. ↑ "Sri Lanka moves ahead of Pakistan in sixth place". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  22. ↑ "Sarfaraz bags outstanding player of the year at PCB awards 2017". Dawn News. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  23. ↑ "Fakhar Zaman steals PCB awards ceremony". www.brecorder.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
Preceded by
Shahid Afridi		 Pakistani national cricket captain (T20I)
2016–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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