Sarfaraz Ahmed hits back after Mohammad Hafeez's 'No. 1 keeper-batsman' tweet for Mohammad Rizwan

The ongoing debate in the Pakistan cricket fraternity about who is the country’s number one wicketkeeper-batsman took an interesting turn on Saturday when Sarfaraz Ahmed hit back at veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez. The raging debate resurfaced after current Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan’s impressive display against South Africa.

Rizwan scored a fighting century in the second Test to help Pakistan recover from a poor position and go on to win the match. It was followed by a stunning century in the first T20I earlier this week. The 28-year old played an unbeaten knock of 104 to help Pakistan beat the Proteas by three wickets and take the lead in the series.

Soon after Rizwan’s effort, Hafeez took to Twitter to lavish praise on the wicketkeeper-batsman. He started by congratulating the Pakistan star for his first T20 hundred and hailed him as a shining star. The veteran player then took a dig at Rizwan’s critics by asking what does he need to do more to prove that he is the number one wicketkeeper-batsman in Pakistan. His tweet also looked like an indirect dig at Sarfaraz.

“Congratulations @iMRizwanPak on scoring T20 Hundred. U r a Star shining star,” wrote Hafeez before adding: “Wonder how long u need to prove that u r NO1 wicketkeeper/Batsman in pakistan in all formats of the game. Just asking”

Sarfaraz Ahmed hits back

Hafeez’s tweet that seemed like an indirect dig at Sarfaraz Ahmed did not go down well with the latter and he decided to hit back. The former Pakistan skipper posted a series of tweets in order to make his stance clear. He started by telling Hafeez that every wicketkeeper who has played for Pakistan has been number one for the country.

“Hafeez bhai Sb, whoever has played for Pakistan from Imtiaz Ahmed, Wasim Bari, Tasleem Arif to Saleem Yousuf and from Moin Khan, Rashid Latif to Kamran Akmal and even Rizwan right now has always been number ONE for the country and have been respected accordingly,” wrote Sarfaraz Ahmed

Sarfaraz, who led Pakistan to their first-ever Champions Trophy win in 2017, further stated that he and others are behind Rizwan and wished that the latter continues to perform in the same manner for Pakistan. He finished by saying that whoever gets the chance to play for Pakistan in the future will be the number one for the country and urged Hafeez to show a positive attitude.

“We are all behind Rizwan and wish that he plays many more amazing innings for our beloved country,” wrote Sarfaraz before adding: “Aur ayende bhee jisko bhee chance milega wo Pakistan ke liye number ONE hee huga. We expect nothing but positiveness coming from an international player who has played so many games for Pakistan.”