Sarfaraz Ahmed isn’t out of form in his core job: Mickey Arthur

The experienced Sarfaraz Ahmed has done an excellent job as the captain of the Pakistan national team. However, his form with the bat in hand has dipped to a significant extent especially after the 2017 Champions Trophy, which the Men in Green won, beating India in the final. Subsequently, critics from across the country have also questioned his position in the team.

Since that tournament, Sarfaraz has scored 21.28 runs per dismissal. Nevertheless, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently confirmed him as the skipper of the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales. In the meantime, Mickey Arthur, the head coach, reckons wicketkeeping is Sarfaraz’s primary role and he isn’t out of form in that regards by any stretch of the imagination.

So he is not out of form in his core job

“It needs to be understood that Sarfaraz first and foremost is the captain and a wicketkeeper. People forget wicketkeeping is a specialist position. Sarfaraz’s numbers over the last four and a half months are mind-blowing: one catch dropped and one missed stumping,” Arthur mentioned after returning to Lahore from the South Africa tour.

“I can tell you I did the research on the plane coming last night because I knew this question would be asked, he’s dropped eight balls in four and a half months. So he is not out of form in his core job. His core job is to keep wickets and to take the catches and make the stumpings,” he added.

Sarfaraz recently was part of a controversy in the ODI series against the Proteas where he made some ‘racist’ remarks. Thereafter, he was slapped with a four-match suspension by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The country’s cricket board also called him back home and Shoaib Malik was named as the interim captain in the last two ODIs and the three-match T20I series.

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