Pakistan did a mistake by sacking Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mickey Arthur after 2019 World Cup: Rashid Latif

While Pakistan was criticized round and square for putting on a shambolic performance against a second-string England team in three-match ODI series, the former Pakistan cricketers, experts, and fans vented their frustration on social media over Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis. Both the coaches had to endure brickbats from all quarters.

Now, former Pakistan player Rashid Latif feels the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did a huge blunder by sacking Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur as the captain and coach respectively, after the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.
Pakistan blew hot and cold during the World Cup, and Ahmed’s fitness too became an issue for PCB.

Apart from that, speculations were going around that the wicketkeeper-batter had a tiff with few teammates during the global event. The team didn’t qualify for the semifinals, and this led to PCB making some harsh calls. Latif was not pleased by the sacking of the then head coach Mickey Arthur and Ahmed as the captain of the team.

“Why was Mickey Arthur removed…what was the reason for his sacking? The team had done well under him and it was progressing well. Check the records and you can see but he was removed because of politics,” Latif said on the YouTube Cricket Baaz channel.

Rashid Latif feels Sarfaraz Ahmed deserved to be treated well

The former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter further opined that Ahmed’s captaincy was going good and he helped the team win the Champions Trophy in 2017. After sacking Arthur, the PCB removed Ahmed as captain from all formats in late 2019. The wicketkeeper-batter also lost his keeping and place in the team as a batter to Mohammad Rizwan.

Meanwhile, Latif also backed Misbah, stating maybe he was not sure about doing justice to the role of head coach, as he was just getting to know things, after his retirement.

“I don’t blame Misbah-ul Haq, perhaps he didn’t want to be the head coach. He was young and inexperienced as a coach so why appoint him? It is the PCB to be blamed for what has happened,” Latif said.

Latif concluded by saying that, the team has a chance to bounce back in the T20 series against England starting on Friday, 16 July.

Get all the latest cricket news & updates, cricket stats, T20 world cup news & much more on CricTracker.