Azhar Ali shows support for Pakistan T20 Captain Sarfraz Ahmed

Karachi: Pakistan ODI skipper Azhar Ali has showered praise on newly-appointed T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed, saying the wicketkeeper-batsman has a brilliant cricketing brain and experience to deliver good results for the team. Sarfraz, who succeeded struggling all-rounder Shahid Afridi to command the national team on Tuesday, described his new responsibility as the ‘biggest honour’. Wishing luck to Sarfraz for his new responsibility, Azhar believes that the former would be able to attract support from the entire team, which still need to improve on their skills. ALSO READ: IPL 2016: Shreyas Iyer believes IPL can propel players for reckoning in India team

Reflecting on Pakistan’s early exit from the recently-concluded World T20, Azhar admitted that his side had promised a lot but didn’t manage to produce desired result, the Express Tribune reported. Sarfraz had captained the Pakistan Under-19 team towards the World Cup glory in 2006 and had also led the national side towards a 2-1 ODI series win over Zimbabwe in the absence of Azhar last year. However, Sarfraz’s T20I captaincy debut will have to wait till September 7, when Pakistan will take on England at Old Trafford for a one-off match. ALSO READ: Delhi Daredevils team in IPL 2016 Preview: Zaheer Khan led squad looks to break the jinx in IPL 9

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

Pakistan have had a rather forgettable T20 campaigns this year. They first failed to qualify for the finals in Asia Cup despite the heroics of Mohammad Aamer. They even failed against Bangladesh but won against an inexperienced Sri Lanka in group stages of Asia Cup. Their bad luck under Shahid Afridi’s captaincy continued as they failed to go past Super 10 in T20 World Cup 2016. They were able to register a single win against Bangladesh, taking revenge of Asia Cup and thrashing them with 70 odd runs. Their jinx against India against India in World Cup continued as they lost to India once again in group stages slimming their chances to reach semi-finals. Their outing against Australia and New Zealand was no different and it clearly indicated that Shahid Afridi is going to step down as Pakistan’s captain.