Sarfraz Ahmed named Pakistan ODI captain, replaces Azhar Ali

Sarfraz Ahmed named Pakistan ODI captain, replaces Azhar Ali Sarfraz Ahmed has been appointed the captain of Pakistan One-Day International (ODI) team, PCB chairman Shahryar Khan announced on Thursday. He replaces Azhar Ali, who took charge of captaincy for Pakistan in ODI’s after Misbah-ul-Haq retired after 2015 ICC World Cup.  In a meeting with Shahryar Khan in Dubai,

Azhar informed of his decision to step down from the captaincy, which led to the appointment of Sarfraz as skipper.

Sarfraz, a wicket-keeper batsman, however is not new to captaincy, as PCB had replaced Shahid Afridi with him as the Twenty 20 (T20) captain, following Pakistan’s dismal (निराशाजनक) show in 2016 World T20.

"Ali came to me and said that his batting form was affecting(प्रभावित करने वाले)  due to captaincy and that he wanted to step down, so we have appointed Sarfraz as one-day skipper," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan told AFP.

Azhar’s job was under scrutiny(समीक्षा)  since Pakistan's 4-1 defeat in England in September last year, followed by two back-to-back overseas series defeats against New Zealand and Australia. He led Pakistan in 31 ODI’s, winning 12 and losing 18, while one ended in no result. 

Besides Sarfraz’s appointment as the new ODI skipper, Shahryar said Test captain Misbah needs some time to decide whether he will continue leading the Test side or not.

"Misbah has asked for some time (about his future(भविष्य) ) so we have given him time to decide (तय) in the next few days," added Khan.