Former Pakistan Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed says he expected to be sacked before the official announcement. In an interview on Shahid Afridi’s YouTube channel, Ahmed disclosed that he had foreseen the event in advance.
The wicketkeeper batsman expressed his feelings and said that all of his superiors advised him to play domestic cricket. The decision came as a blessing in disguise for him and an opportunity to get his form back by playing domestic.
“To be honest, I already had an idea that I was going to be sacked so I was mentally prepared when it actually happened.”
Sarfaraz Ahmed
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Return to Domestic Cricket
Sarfaraz Ahmed captained Pakistan in several formats since 2016 and led Pakistan to victory in 2017’s Champions Trophy. In his captaincy, Pakistani team rose to the Number 1 rank in T20I format. Thereafter he lost his touch as a batsman and came under immense pressure and heavy criticism from both media and fans. Subsequently, he also ran out of luck as a captain.
While expressing his thoughts Shahid Afridi’s vlog, the 32-year old said “All the seniors advised me to go back to domestic cricket and that’s what I’m doing. Sometimes such a break is necessary too because I had been playing nonstop high-pressure cricket for the last three years.”
“Right now my sole focus is on domestic cricket and am not concerned about Pakistan national team at all. I want to work on my game so that whenever I am called upon, I am ready to do the job.”
What led to his sacking?
Sarfaraz was playing pressure cricket for the last year or so. Due to his form he was unable to capitalize on anything. In October 2019, Sarfaraz was sacked as captain of Pakistan’s team ahead of Pakistan’s tour to Australia. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam were named as captains of the Test and T20I squads respectively.
