Azhar Ali and Babar Azam are in, Captain Sarfaraz is out
Ever since Misbah ul Haq became the head coach and chief selector of the Pakistan national cricket team, his moves are making noise. First it was his decision to ban biryani for the team, then he was panned for the controversial inclusion of Umar Akmal and Ahmad Shahzad in the series against Sri Lanka. Now there’s a new controversy over the sudden news of replacing the captain of the cricket team.
In a shocking, but maybe not-so-surprising move, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam just replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed as the captains of the cricket team
Azhar Ali has become the ODI and Test captain while Babar has been selected as the captain for the T20 format.
JUST IN: Sarfaraz Ahmed has been removed as Pakistan's Test and T20I captain. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam will replace him. pic.twitter.com/3OhXWYbrCG
— ICC (@ICC) October 18, 2019
Naturally, the decision to replace Captain Sarfaraz has caused a massive storm among fans of the game
Sarfaraz Ahmad had his ups and downs as captain,will be most remembered for the CT win in 2017,however such is the fate of Pak captains that it never really ends well for them! Good luck to him for the future..
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) October 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/Maze_runner1/status/1185102700792430593
There are those who are happy because of the recent lack of good performance on Sarfaraz’s part as a leader of the cricket team
Sarfaraz getting sacked was coming & i believe it is the step in the right direction, he wasn’t taking the team forward & his own performances has been dismal for a very long time.
— Osama. (@ashaqeens) October 18, 2019
Others are actually pretty sad for him being replaced by Azhar Ali and Babar Azam
Strange decision by PCB. A captain who has won 11 T20i series for you, who lead the team to No.1 rank in T20s. He made an unit and that champions-trophy picture was unforgettable. Sarfaraz Ahmad has been asked to go home just 11 months before the WT20, does it make any sence? pic.twitter.com/K0mZzzVnxs
— Ahmad Haseeb (@iamAhmadhaseeb) October 18, 2019
We Condemn The Decision of PCB Sarfraz Ahmed nd Azhar Ali pic.twitter.com/UpFSpiOSNE
— Uzairgul5 (@Uzairgul51) October 18, 2019
Many are particularly angry at the removal of Sarfaraz from T20 captaincy because his performance has been pretty decent
Also, removing Sarfaraz as captain from Teat is understandable but it is surprising to see him being removed as T20I captain. Under his leadership, Pak became number one T20I team.
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) October 18, 2019
This is insane! It's fair to remove Sarfaraz from Test captaincy but from ODIs and specially T20s when less than 1 year left in @T20WorldCup is pure injustice. @TheRealPCB @captainmisbahpk what the hell you guys are doing; destroying #Pakistan #Cricket again with politics. https://t.co/jKAJSVfj07
— Shahrukh Ahmed (@isrkahmed) October 18, 2019
People are even pulling up his T20 performance charts to make their case
News of Sarfaraz Ahmed being removed as Captain from all formats. Test and ODI make sense but how could they remove him in T20 considering his successful stats? #Cricket #Pakistan #PCB #SarfarazAhmed pic.twitter.com/FkmMJDXwBN
— Jibran T. Siddiqui (@jibransiddiqui) October 18, 2019
But most controversially, people are debating that this decision to replace Sarfaraz with Ahzar Ali and Babar Azam was motivated by Karachi vs Lahore mentality
Azhar Ali and Babar Azam are from Lahore while Sarfaraz is a Karachi-born. With Misbah being from Mianwali, which is a Punjabi city, people are thinking that this decision may have been motivated with ethnic divisions in mind.
And very soon the TL will be filled with the Karachi-card garbage by some of our journos, old and not-so-old alike, and the rest will be done by the MQMers! #Sarfaraz
— Unprecedented (@soft_signal) October 18, 2019
Karachi media so sympathetic towards Sarfaraz sacking 😂. His performance has been terrible in test n odis as captain. Even he has lost last 3 t20 series. Should have made Imad t20 captain.
— Hina T. (@BeingHinaTariq) October 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/shubham04_/status/1185106045460471809
The city war is fast becoming very toxic
Sarfaraz removed as captain- very good decision (so happy to see karachi mafia in sports journalism feeling 🔥) cant understand on what basis these morons still are backing sarfaraz…he was not performing with bat neither behind the stumps and as a leader he was rubbish 1/n
— Awais Shah (@awaiisz) October 18, 2019
What are your thoughts about the replacement of captain Sarfaraz? Is this a Karachi vs Lahore thing or is this just because Sarfaraz wasn’t performing so well anymore? Sound off in the comments below.
Cover image via: tribune.com.pk / dailytimes.com.pk / skysports.com
