Dubai: Azhar Ali has stepped down as Pakistan’s One day cricket International team captain. Shahryar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket chairman, revealed a few hours before the start of the second edition of the Pakistan Super League. Sarfraz Ahmad will now take over as One day International team captain in addition to being their Twenty20 team. captain, he said. The Pakistan team is being revamped after it lost all three Tests in Australia and its 4-1 defeat in the One-Day International series Down Under.
Plans to find a new captain for the ageing Test captain Misbah Ul Haq too has commenced. Shaharyar Khan also held discussions with Misbah and coach Mickey Arthur. He said that Azhar has relinquished the captaincy as he felt it was affecting his batting form. “We offered Sarfraz the captaincy of One Day International team and Twenty20 and he has accepted it.”
In his last 23 innings as captain, Azhar has scored only one century and two half-centuries. In the recently-concluded ODI series loss against Australia, he had scores of 24, 7 and 6 in his three appearances.
Twenty-nine-year-old Safraz has led Pakistan in only one One Day Internationals but has captained the team in four Twenty20 Internationals.
Talking about the Test team captaincy, Shaharyar said that Misbah has requested a little more time to reconsider his future.
It is understood that Misbah is likely to be given one more chance to lead the Pakistan team in the forthcoming three-match series in the West Indies set to be held in March-April and allow him to bow out on a high note. The Pakistan selectors were hesitant to increase the workload of Sarfraz, by giving him the captaincy of the One day team as he plays the role of a wicketkeeper too. India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni had captained in all formats despite being a wicketkeeper and Safraz is also now being groomed for that kind of a role.
Pakistan is keen to revamp their one day international team as the team had slid to eighth in the rankings since Azhar took over and is on the verge of having to qualify to play in the 2019 World Cup. Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq is keen to have a strong leader for the team and a squad that can gel well in the coming years.
