Sarfraz Ahmed: A career written in the stars

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed was rewarded with the honour of being the new Pakistan Test captain on Tuesday. The 30-year-old became the 34^th individual to get this opportunity. Sarfraz Ahmed will now lead the men in green in all three formats of the game which is a remarkable achievement for the man.

Sarfraz, who broke into the international scene a bit late compared to his teammates, was one of those cricketers who could have easily been lost among the thousands of cricketers who fail to make it big. But much to everyone’s surprise, the Karachi-born cricketer’s career graph was destined to go up.

His career:

Sarfraz Ahmed’s first gigantic achievement as a captain came when he lead Pakistan to victory in the Under-19 World Cup in 2006. Batting first, Pakistan were bundled out for just 109 runs but Sarfraz Ahmed’s brilliant captaincy and some valiant bowling performances sealed the Indian batting line up for a mere score of 71 runs.

2007 marks Sarfraz’s ODI debut which came against arch-rivals India in Jaipur. But the right-handed batsman could not hold on to his place in the team for long as he was dropped from the side after the Asia Cup in 2008.

With strong determination, Ahmed made a return into the Pakistan team in 2011 against Sri Lanka. This time he had the intention of staying at the top level for long and he did exactly that. He rooted his position in the team with some stellar performances.

2014 came as a blessing to the player as he bagged a total of 743 runs, which is the most by a Pakistani wicketkeeper. With the departure of Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz took over the captaincy from the legendary all-rounder in the T20 format.

It did not take long for Sarfraz Ahmed to grab the role of the ODI captain as well. He was made the leader of the ODI side in 2017 replacing Azhar Ali. In 2017, Sarfraz Ahmed did the unthinkable. He carried an inexperienced and lower ranked Pakistani side to their first ICC Champions Trophy triumph. Pakistan went into the tournament as the 8^th ranked side but Sarfraz and his men pulled off the impossible by beating India comprehensively in the finals. He became the 2^nd captain after the mighty Imran Khan to win an ICC tournament for the country.