Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed were present at the Qawwali night ahead of teammate Imam-ul-Haq's wedding in Lahore. Sarfaraz seemed to thoroughly enjoy the music, with Babar and Usman Qadir seated beside him. Babar seemed to be smiling while Sarfaraz danced along to the tune of 'Mera piya ghar aaya'. Imam's nikah (wedding ceremony) is scheduled for Saturday, November 25, followed by the wedding reception on Sunday, November 26.
In a video doing rounds on X, Sarfaraz was spotted enjoying the music and having fun sitting next to Babar. The latter smiled as the qawwals sang to the tune of ‘Mera piya ghar aaya’.
Babar recently stepped down as captain of Pakistan's cricket team across all formats, with Shan Masood appointed as the Test team captain and Shaheen Afridi chosen to lead the T20I side. His decision followed Pakistan's failure to reach the Cricket World Cup semi-finals despite his personal performance of scoring 320 runs in nine matches, averaging 40 and including four half-centuries.
Babar, Sarfaraz, and Imam have all been included in Pakistan's Test squad for the upcoming tour of Australia. The PCB has arranged a training camp for the team at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, running until November 28. Subsequently, the team is set to depart for Australia on November 30.
The Pakistan squad comprises players like Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Nauman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, and Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Imam's performance in the ODI World Cup amounted to 162 runs in six matches, averaging 27, with a single half-century.
Sarfaraz notably led Pakistan to victory in the 2017 Champions Trophy. He made a Test comeback against New Zealand last year, scoring 335 runs in four innings at an average of 83.75, including a century and three half-centuries. However, in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, his scores dwindled to 17, 1, and 14 not out in his last three Test innings.