Wahab Riaz Praises Sarfaraz Ahmed as 'The Sharpest Captain'

Wahab Riaz Praises Sarfaraz Ahmed as ‘The Sharpest Captain’

Web Desk

10th Jul, 2023. 09:51 pm
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Wahab Riaz Praises Sarfaraz Ahmed as ‘The Sharpest Captain.
Riaz openly expressed his preference for Sarfaraz as captain.
Sarfaraz did not have the opportunity to lead Pakistan.

Wahab Riaz, the former Pakistani fast bowler, has praised Sarfaraz Ahmed as the most astute captain he has ever had the privilege to play under.

Throughout his 12-year career with the Pakistan cricket team, Wahab has played under various captains, but he holds Sarfaraz in high regard. Despite respecting all his previous captains, Wahab specifically commended Sarfaraz for his ability to think swiftly on the field and his strong leadership skills.

He referred to Sarfaraz as the sharpest captain he has ever played under, emphasizing his appreciation for Sarfaraz’s quick decision-making and strategic abilities.

“Look, captaincy is a different thing. I played in Shoaib Malik’s captaincy then in Shahid Afridi’s captaincy, Misbah’s captaincy and Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy. I think one of the sharpest captains of them all was Sarfaraz,” Wahab said.

“And I think the most sensible thinking captain was Misbah-ul-Haq while Shoaib bhai and Shahid were somebody who used to support the players a lot,” he added.

Riaz openly expressed his preference for Sarfaraz as captain, acknowledging that he did not have sufficient playing time under the current Pakistani skipper, Babar Azam.

“I got quite minimal time with Babar. Obviously, he was in his learning phase at that time but I think if I had to rate somebody then I would say Sarfaraz was one of the best captains,” he concluded.

Wahab was ruled out of the 2017 Champions Trophy due to an ankle injury he sustained while playing against India in the group match.

Sarfaraz is considered one of the most successful captains in the history of Pakistan cricket. He led Pakistan to their first-ever Champions Trophy victory and achieved a remarkable feat of winning 11 consecutive T20 international series.

Under his captaincy, Pakistan held the number one ranking in T20I cricket for a significant period. However, after Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, where they failed to advance to the knockout stages, Sarfaraz was removed from the captaincy.

It is important to note that Sarfaraz did not have the opportunity to lead Pakistan in a 20-over tournament during his tenure as captain.