PCB AXE Sarfaraz Ahmed As Pakistan's Test And T20I Skipper; Azhar, Babar Take Over Command

PCB has removed Sarfaraz as Pakistan's Test and T20I skipper. Azhar Ali has been named the new Test captain, while Babar Azam takes over as the T20I Captain.

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday sacked under-fire Sarfaraz Ahmed as the skipper of the Test and T20I team. Azhar Ali has been named the Test captain, while Babar Azam takes over as the T20I skipper of the national team. The 32-year-old Sarfaraz had been drawing flak from all quarters after the team's dismal performance in the 2019 ICC World Cup. The ever growing call to sack Sarfaraz went to another level after hosts Pakistan were recently  upset by a young Sri Lankan team in a 3-match T20I series played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Azhar Ali appointed Test and Babar Azam T20I captain

More ▶️ https://t.co/ekAM8l0ENP — PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) October 18, 2019

Reacting to his axing, Sarfaraz said: "It has been an honour to lead Pakistan at the highest level. I want to thank all my colleagues, coaches and selectors who have helped me in this journey. My good wishes are with Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and the Pakistan cricket team, and I hope they will continue to grow stronger and stronger."

Pakistan, being ICC’s number-one ranked T20I team, was expected to steam roll over the visiting Lankan team, who were devoid of some of their mainstays in Angelo Matthews and Dinesh Chandimal. However, the home team were inflicted an embarrassing series whitewash and were outplayed every time while chasing down targets. Sarfaraz’s own performance in all departments was below par by any stretch of the imagination. Misbah-ul-Haq, the head coach-cum-selector, who took over after the mega event, wasn’t happy with Sarfaraz by any means. It was learned that he was unhappy with Sarfaraz’s approach of shying away from responsibilities in the hour of need. It was also known that Misbah had a chat with the PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan and expressed his displeasure over the wicket-keeper. Under Sarfaraz Ahmed's captaincy, Pakistan won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and rose to the very top of the T20I rankings, but the tough call from their cricket  board comes in the aftermath of the team's home series defeat to a severely-depleted Sri Lanka in T20Is.