Sarfraz is a born leader, says Rashid Latif

Pundits hail captain’s influence as Pakistan complete series whitewash over WI

KARACHI: Pakistan’s emphatic 3-0 T20I series win over world champions West Indies has greatly impressed pundits, who have heaped special praise on captain Sarfraz Ahmed’s ability to lead the team in addition to admiring the all-round display by the Men in Green.

“Sarfraz is a born leader. His domination on the field shows and he has great camaraderie with his players,” said former captain Rashid Latif, who also added that the wicketkeeper has what it takes to lead the team in the other two formats as well.

After resounding wins in the first two T20Is in Dubai last weekend, Pakistan completed the series whitewash with another convincing victory — eight-wicket win — at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Stadium Tuesday night.



In all three games, the bowlers stifled the West Indian batsmen while the batting line-up looked in control on pitches that suited the hosts’ style of play.

And Latif was extremely impressed with the display despite the fragility of the West Indian line-up that was majorly under strength.

“The West Indian team lacked quality, especially with the unavailability of their senior players and the last minute change in the coaching staff — Phil Simmons removal,” Latif told The Express Tribune. “Yet Pakistan must be praised for their performance since they dominated each of the three games and never relinquished their grip on the visitors.”





Latif also observed that the batting line-up, led by the experienced Shoaib Malik, looked in complete control. “Malik made full use of his experience. It is indeed a massive achievement to play international cricket for the duration that he has; his attitude was refreshing. I would also like to applaud Babar Azam for his stellar show in the series.”

Spotted Sarfraz’s leadership qualities in PIA: Shoaib

Former Test batsman and selector Shoaib Mohammad, who closely saw Sarfraz develop his game and captaincy credentials for his department PIA, feels that the 29-year-old’s qualities to lead from the front have come to him naturally.



“Sarfraz has gone from strength to strength; he has inborn leadership qualities in addition to being a flamboyant batsman,” said Shoaib. “He bats freely which helps him with his captaincy tremendously.”

Shoaib who represented Pakistan in 45 Tests added that he spotted leadership qualities in Sarfraz while he was coaching the PIA team.

“Sarfraz was always willing to take on challenges. I spotted a leader in him and in fact he had proven his credentials at the U19 World Cup where he led Pakistan to victory in 2006 before we handed him PIA’s captaincy,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2016.

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