Who knew the out of favour Sarfaraz Ahmed will not only make a comeback to Pakistan fold after three years but also smash a century and save the Babar Azam's brigade from blushes in the second Test against New Zealand in Karachi on Friday (January 6).
Riding on former Pakistan's skipper Sarfaraz's resilient ton, Pakistan managed to draw the second Test against Kiwis which once looked slipping away from their hand. Bad light had the last say when Pakistan needed 15 runs to win whereas New Zealand needed one wicket to end the game.
Pakistan started their run chase of 319 on Day 5 with two wickets down for naught. In the first session, Ish Sodhi got the better of opener Imam-ul-Haq (12) early. Shan Masood and skipper Babar Azam stitched a partnership to stabilise the innings but the two batters lost their wickets within 11 deliveries. Michael Bracewell got the wickets of Masood (35) and Bracewell (27). Once again, the responsibility to rebuild the innings was on Saud Shakeel and Sarfaraz. The duo ensured that no more wickets fell in the first session.
Sarfaraz, who had previously captained the team in all three formats, was relieved of his captaincy in 2019 due to a poor run of form. However, many former cricketers believe he is better suited to lead the team in red-ball cricket than current captain Babar Azam.
In the post match press conference Sarfaraz said,"Changes happened in the selection committee and I got my opportunity. Shahid bhai (Afridi) called me and said I would be playing. While we were having our practice, Captain Babar also told me I would be playing and told me to be prepared."
"Thank Allah, I got an opportunity to play. Good things have started to happen. Shahid bhai has played cricket with me, he has seen me play. I think your ability to play at the highest level depends on two things, form and fitness. If you have form and fitness, then definitely, you can play until you are 40 or even 42.
When Sarfaraz was asked about taking up the the Pakistan's captaincy again, he said,"You asked me about captaincy, see, at this time, Babar Azam is the captain, till the time he is captain, it's our responsibility to support him fully," Sarfaraz concluded.
Sarfraz, who was adjudged the Player of the Match and Player of the series for his sensational show with the bat, has an average of 38.85 from 51 Test appearances since his debut in 2010, and is just eight runs short of 3,000 as he ended the series with a total of 335 runs from four innings.
