Abu Dhabi: Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmad, following their 2-1 Test series defeat against New Zealand, accepted that the pressure that comes from losing a series like this definitely makes him consider if he is the right man to lead the side in Tests.
“When such a setback happens then one thinks on those lines,” admitted Sarfraz, who has now lost four and won two in seven Test since last year. But before an important tour of South Africa, if you think like that, then it’s not beneficial for the team.
“If because of me there are mistakes and if the Pakistan team is not winning because of me, then I will think of getting away from it. If there is anyone else who is better for captaincy of the Pakistan team, then I will do that.”
The skipper accepted that the home loss ahead of a tough away series against South Africa was shattering.
“Yes, it hurt,” he said. “That’s a very disappointing series for us, we had our chances but we could not grab them. If you talk of the first Test, we bowled them out for a low score but did not take a big lead. Here too we did not take a big lead and had to pay for that.” Sarfraz added that the loss was a collective responsibility and there was no point blaming coach Mickey Arthur or batting coach Grant Flower for the batting collapses.
“Look, the head coach has his job, the batting coach has his, but it’s the responsibility of the players as well,” he added. “That’s why we take pressure and mentally we have to be strong as a batting unit.
“The batting pair who play the new ball has to set the momentum, it’s not easy to bat on the fifth day. If you don’t bat well on the new ball then it’s tough to bat on the fifth day. You lose wickets on the new ball then it gets tough as seam gets hard and the ball grips for the spinners, it happened and we lost two wickets off three balls.
Sarfraz and Pakistan will be heading to South Africa in less than a week’s time for three Tests, five ODIs and three T20s starting from Boxing Day.
