Sarfaraz Ahmed has been acknowledged as one of the most successful cricket captains of Pakistan who won laurels for the nation. He led the team in ICC ChampionsTrophy 2017 and Under19 World Cup 2006. Significantly, he scored 6164 runs in 54 Tests, 117 ODI and 61 T20 international matches. He made six centuries and 35 fifties in these formats as a reliable middle-order batsman.
Early life and family background
Sarfaraz Ahmed was born on 22 May 1987 in Karachi. His father Shakeel Ahmed used to run a printing press business and belonged to a Mohajir family.
Marriage and children of Sarfaraz Ahmed
Sarfaraz Ahmed married Syeda Khushbakht in 2015. The couple has now two children.
Unforgettable performance in 2006 and 2017 ICC events
Sarfaraz Ahmed served Pakistan cricket as captain of the Green Shirts in all formats. Under his captaincy, Pakistan won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, defeating arch-rivals India in the final. In past, during his under-19 days, he also led the Pakistan team to win the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where they had also defeated India in the final.
Cricket journey of Sarfaraz Ahmed
Sarfaraz Ahmed has gone through tough time and tribulations as talented cricketer. He was named as Pakistan’s Twenty20 International captain following the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India. He was named Pakistan’s ODI Captain on 9 February 2017 after Azhar Ali stepped down.He took up the Test captaincy mantle for his team following the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq and hence became the 32nd Test captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team. He was called up by Pakistan as a cover for Kamran Akmal who had a finger injury in the one-day series against India in November 2007. He made his ODI debut in the final match of the series, on 18th November 2007. He didn’t get a chance to bat as Pakistan had won the match before he was needed to bat.In 2008, he was selected ahead of Kamran Akmal for the Asia Cup.
Controversies of Sarfaraz Ahmed
In January 2019, Sarfaraz was caught on the stump mics using a racial slur towards South African player Andile Phehlukwayoduring the second ODI of the series against South Africa. He was banned for four matches for violating ICC code of conduct.
Records of Sarfraz Ahmed
- In 2015 Test series against SriLanka, Sarfaraz Ahmed became the 7th Pakistani wicketkeeper to reach 1000 Test runs, in 28 inns, jointly the fastest Pakistani wicket-keeper with Imtiaz Ahmed.
- In 2015 World cup, Sarfaraz Ahmed took 6 catches as a wicket-keeper and equaled the ODI record for most dismissals and Adam Gilchrist previous record.
- During 2015 series against Zimbabwe, he became the captain for the third ODI against Zimbabwe on 5th October 2015 and won first match as debut captain.
- After 2017 Champions Trophy win, Sarfraz Ahmed was also named the captain and wicket keeper of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ at the 2017 Champions Trophy by the ICC.
- Under Sarfaraz Ahmed captaincy, Pakistan won 29 out of 37 T20 matches and reached No1 spot in T20Is rankings.
- As ODI captain, Pakistan played 50 matches out of which they won 28 matches, lost 20 matches and had a winning rate of 58.33.
Remarkable performance as wicketkeeper
Sarfaraz Ahmed has performed saliently in his career. In 2015 World Cup, he took 6 catches as a wicket-keeper and equaled the ODI record for most dismissals. He also equaled Adam Gilchrist’s record for the most 6 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in a single World Cup innings. He was rewarded with the ‘Man of the Match’ award. He also scored 49 runs off 49 balls in this match and made 101 against Ireland. Statistically, he grabbed 316 Catches and 56 Stumps in all formats as a wicketkeeper.
Test career of Sarfaraz Ahmed
He made his Test match debut in Hobart on 14 January 2010, in the third Test match against Australia, replacing Kamran Akmal who suffered an “error-ridden performance” in the second Test. He was dropped again after one match. He scored 3031 runs in 54 Tests for Pakistan.
ODI career of Sarfaraz Ahmed
Sarfaraz made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in November 2011 and for the subsequent series against Bangladesh and the Asia Cup. He scored a crucial 46 inning and helped Pakistan to win the match by 2 runs. He was consequently rewarded a Category C contract and selected for Pakistan’s next series against Sri Lanka, again for T20Is. He scored 2315 runs in 117 matches.
Captaincy in T2O format
Sarfaraz Ahmed was made as the captain of the national T20 team on 5th April 2016. He won his first match in the only T20I against England by nine wickets.
Most successful T2O captain
Under Sarfraz Ahmed’s captaincy, the Pakistan team whitewashed the 2016 ICC World Twenty20’s champion, West Indies. Pakistan ranked Number 1 in ICC rankings for T20 Internationals in late 2018. Significantly, Pakistan won 11 consecutive T20 series against leading teams ODI under his captaincy.
Domestic and franchise cricket career
Sarfaraz Ahmed has been leading Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) since his election in December 2015. After his three consecutive failure as captain, he won the tournament for the first time in fourth edition after defeating Peshawar Zalmi in the final match.Presently, Rilee Rossouw replaces Sarfaraz Ahmed as Quetta Gladiators’ captain in PSL 9th edition 2024.
In September 2019, Sarfraz was named the captain of Sindh for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.
Awards and accolades of Sarfaraz Ahmed
In March 2018, on Pakistan Day, Sarfaraz became the youngest cricketer to be awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz.
PCB’s Outstanding Player of the year: 2017
Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2018) – Pakistan’s third-highest civilian award
PCB’s Spirit of Cricket Award: 2018
