Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed apologizes for harsh behaviour in 2nd ODI

Babar Azam, who holds the record for five consecutive centuries in the same country after his 101 off 133, combined with Shadab Khan’s unbeaten 52, helped Pakistan clinch a low scoring thriller last night as they tumbled down Sri Lanka on 187 and won the match by 32 runs.

Despite the stunning bowling display from Pakistan, the victory didn’t come easy because Sri Lanka skipper, Upul Tharanga, took the responsibility to lead from the front played a stunning fighting knock of 112 that helped Sri Lanka remain in the chase. Skipper Sarfraz was kept on his toes throughout as he continued to shout on his team-mates on the minutest of mistakes. The skipper, however, apologized to his team saying that the conditions were such that he had to adopt a strict approach.

I apologised to players

“The match position was such that I had to be harsh on the players,” stated Sarfraz on his shouting at players. “But the boys understand the situation and I even apologised to them after the game,” he said at the post-match conference, as reported by Business Recorder.

The skipper then criticized the batting order that collapsed early, but, praised man-of-the match Shadab Khan and Babar Azam for their resilience. These two were the only players who were able to form a partnership after Pakistan found themselves at 40-3 early in the game. They steadied the ship with a 109-run-7 wicket partnership followed by a good bowling performance. The hosts now lead the series 2-0 in the 5 match series.

“We didn’t bat well today and collapsed. Shadab showed his composure and Azam has been playing well. No praise is enough for Azam. He has to adjust at the Test level and he is still a youngster, who will only improve with experience. The options were available but we had to bat better in the next match,” he added.