Sarfaraz Ahmed reacts to the trolls and hate he has been receiving on social media

Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been battling with tough times for over one year. The cricketer is often brutally trolled on social media with many people making offensive memes and trolls on him. It all started with the visuals of the wicketkeeper-batsman yawning behind the stumps during the match against India in the World Cup last year going viral on social media.

As Pakistan lost that match against India and couldn’t qualify for the semi-finals, the whole team especially Sarfaraz, was subjected to a lot of hate and criticism. Ahmed was handed the responsibility of leading the Pakistan side in 2016. Under his leadership, the team created a milestone by winning the Champions Trophy 2017 by defeating arch-rivals India in the final. However, the Karachi stalwart was sacked as the Pakistan captain after the poor performance of the team in the 2019 World Cup.

After over an year to that incident, Sarfaraz again became an easy target for the trolls as his pictures of yawning while sitting in the dugout during the second T20 International and the third and final Test match against England went viral on social media. Netizens trolled the former skipper by hailing him as the ‘only cricketer to have yawned in all the three formats of the game’

Sarfaraz Ahmed shares a cryptic tweet

Though Sarfaraz was included in Pakistan’s tour of England which consisted of a three-match Test and T20I series, he only got a chance in the playing XI for the Men in Green in the third and final T20 International at the Old Trafford, Manchester.

Pakistan had managed to give a total of 190 runs to England due to the blistering knock of not out 86 runs by Mohammad Hafeez and 54 off 33 balls by Haider Ali. Owing to a fine show put up by the top-order batsmen, Ahmed didn’t get a chance to bat and prove his caliber. However, he failed to make a mark by his wicketkeeping too.

On the fourth ball of the 11th over, batsman Moeen Ali stepped out of the crease to hit Imad Wasim out of the park but he failed to connect with the ball. Sarfaraz, who was standing close to the stumps, got hold of the ball but took a lot of time to hit the stumps which provided a lifeline to the English batsman.

This mistake proved a little costly for Pakistan as Moeen went on to hit a 33-ball 61. However, fortunately Pakistan managed to clinch the match by 5 runs owing to the brilliant bowling by Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz.

This incident again resulted in the 33-year-old again getting criticised. Being stressed with the happenings, Sarfaraz took to social media to share a tweet. The former captain wrote in Urdu language that he isn’t as bad as he is being portrayed by the people.

He tweeted, “Main itna bhi bura nhi hu, jitna log bata rahe hai”

اتنا چھبنے لگا ہوں سب کو چھرا تو نہیں
جانی جتنا بتاتے وہ میرے بارے میں اتنا برا بھی نہیں ہوں

— Sarfaraz Ahmed (@SarfarazA_54) September 2, 2020