Captaining Pakistan across all formats for quite a few years drained me mentally: Sarfaraz Ahmed

Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Pakistan wicketkeeper was removed from the captaincy across all the formats ahead of the Australia tour. Subsequently, he was dropped from the national squad as well. But, it seems like it has worked in favour of the senior player, who is piling runs in domestic cricket. However, he looked optimistic to regain his spot in the national side in an interview.

The 32-year-old led Men in Green to their maiden ICC Champions Trophy in 2017. He also emerged as a successful T20I skipper and helped his side in winning 11 consecutive T20 series. But, since last year, Pakistan couldn’t perform well under his leadership and lost back to back series across all the formats. He also failed in steering Pakistan into the semi-finals of 2019 World Cup. 

Sarfaraz Ahmed opines on his comeback into the national squad 

It was not everything related to the captaincy that forced PCB to rule him out from the squad. As a batsman also he was struggling to pile runs with his willow. And, when his team got whitewashed against Sri Lanka in the T20I series, then it was the time when the board took stern steps against him.

Recently, while talking to the former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, the 32-year-old said that he is willing to make a comeback into the squad on the basis of some good performances. He also stated that he prepared himself mentally after getting dropped. He also received suggestions from the former players to just concentrate on performing well in the domestic circuit. According to Sarfaraz, he was mentally drained while leading the national team across all the formats.

“I prepared mentally after being dropped. I have received suggestions from the former cricketers to concentrate on domestic cricket and perform for the team. After playing a lot of international cricket as a captain with a lot of pressures, playing domestic cricket will help to find ourselves. I played World Cup and captained my team in all three formats for quite a few years, which drained me mentally,” Sarfaraz said

Sarfaraz also said that he is currently focussing on his performance and just wants to improve his game. The former Pakistan skipper is preparing for the upcoming challenges so that whenever he gets a chance from PCB for playing in the national team, he can come up with some good performance.

“I just want to forget about the international team for some time and concentrate on domestic cricket. I want to improve myself and my game. After preparing myself to all the challenges if Pakistan board gives me a chance, then I will be ready to play again for the country. The quality of domestic cricket also improved a lot,” Sarfaraz added.

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