I didn’t mean any racial attack: Sarfaraz Ahmed

Currently, the Pakistan team don’t have their regular captain Sarfaraz Ahmed in their ranks and all-rounder Shoaib Malik is leading the team in the limited-overs fixtures against South Africa. He hurled some words at Andile Phehlukwayo in the second ODI in Durban that were termed as ‘racist’. Subsequently, he was slapped with a four-match ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Thereafter, he was also called back home on an immediate basis. Pakistan recently missed their captain badly as they lost a series after three years following their 2-0 defeat against the Proteas. Recently, the 31-year-old opened up on the matter and mentioned that he had no intentions of any ‘racial attack’ at Phehlukwayo. Moreover, he said that he talked about what mother’s prayers meant in Pakistan.

He accepted my apology and clarification

“When I met him to say sorry, he told me that he felt that something wrong was said about his mother. Then I explained to him what ‘Maa Ki Dua’ means in our culture. I didn’t mean any racial attack, and I explained that to Phehlukwayo as well,” Sarfaraz Ahmed was quoted as saying in Geo News.

“He accepted my apology and clarification when I explained it to him. It is up to the PCB but I’m confident that I will stay as the team’s captain Insha’Allah,” he added.

Sarfaraz didn’t have the best of times last year and couldn’t lead his team to wins, especially in Test and ODI cricket. Subsequently, his leadership skills also came under the scanner. Nevertheless, he got support from former cricketers like Wasim Akram.

Pakistan are scheduled to play a limited-overs series against Australia and then would be touring England for one T20I and five ODIs. Thereafter, they would play the World Cup in England and Wales and Sarfaraz has a massive task ahead of him to take his team to victories in these game.

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