Sarfraz Ahmed likely to be named Pakistan ODI captain

The Pakistan team is all set to get revamped after a disastrous tour down under. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed is most likely to be named the skipper of the ODI side. This will mean that the current ODI skipper, Azhar Ali, will be axed from his position. According to the sources close to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has some plans to change the setup.

Reports in Business Standards mentioned that Inzamam advised the PCB chairman, Shahryar Khan, to make the necessary changes prior to the team’s tour to West Indies in March. The move has come in after Pakistan lost both the Test series and the ODI series against Australia down under. “Inzamam has tried to convince the PCB Chairman and other high officials off some radical changes required in the national team set-up after the disastrous tour to Australia,” a source quoted to PTI.

In addition to the captaincy change in the ODI format, the board is also looking at the future prospects. This comes down to the point of the senior players retaining their place in the team. The board is expected to hold talks with two of their seniormost players – Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan. The Test tour to West Indies might well be Misbah’s last tour as the Pakistan skipper.

The board wishes to see him retire gracefully after the tour. The same is applicable to Younis Khan. Younis is on the brink of reaching the 10000 run mark in Tests. Once he gets to the landmark during the West Indies Test, the board would want him to retire as well. The retirement of Misbah would mean Azhar Ali taking over as the captain in the Tests.

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“It has been decided in principle that Misbah would be advised to under take the test tour to West Indies as captain and announce his retirement and go out gracefully while Younis would also be advised to call it a day after he completes his 10,000 test runs probably in the three tests in the West Indies,” another source quoted.

For the moment, the appointment of Sarfraz Ahmed as the ODI skipper looks certain in the near future. “But Sarfraz will be appointed as the captain of the one-day squad before the west indies tour in addition to his responsibility as captain of the national T20 side,” the source conceded further.