Sarfraz Ahmed likely to fly back to Pakistan

Team Pakistan might be jolted with another exclusion from their squad for the Australia ODI series. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed is expected to head back home due to personal reasons. As per the reports in cricket.com.au, Sarfraz’s mother is seriously ill and was recently hospitalised at a hospital in Karachi. He is thus expected to be with his ill mother.

Sarfraz Ahmed has been an integral part of the national side for quite some time now. His aggressive style of play makes him a handy asset to the team in the limited overs of the game. The middle order batsman was seen on the ground during the warm-up match between Pakistan and Cricket Australia XI recently on Tuesday. Albeit Sarfraz was present with the team, he did not take part in the match.

Mohammad Rizwan donned the wicketkeeping gloves for the team in his absence from the playing members. Rizwan did a fair job with the gloves and scored an unbeaten 22 as well. Pakistan managed to win the match convincingly by a mammoth margin of 196 runs. He is not the first player to be excluded and heading back home from the Pakistani squad.

Earlier, pacer Mohammad Irfan had to fly back to Pakistan following the death of his mother. Promising pace bowler Junaid Khan was drafted into the squad as a replacement for Mohammad Irfan. The Pakistan team management or the Pakistan cricket board are yet to give a confirmation regarding the departure of Sarfraz. The news is not confirmed yet. Neither has any news come from the team management regarding the suitable replacement for the wicketkeeper Ahmed.

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Pakistan will take on Australia in 5 ODIs during the tour. They were earlier badly beaten and bruised 0-3 by the hosts in the recently concluded Test series. The ODI set-up sees the return of power hitters like Umar Akmal, Sharjeeel Khan and Imad Wasim.

Pakistan ODI squad:

Azhar Ali (C), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan (travelling home following death of mother), Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Junaid Khan (roped in as a replacement for Mohammad Irfan).