Quetta Gladiators are thinking about whether Sarfaraz Ahmed should continue as their captain. They've been considering this for a while, but the final decision date is not clear. As per a report by ESPNCricinfo, The consensus at the franchise is that it might be time for a change after Sarfaraz led the team for eight years.
Even though they initially announced Sarfaraz as the captain during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) draft, it's common for teams to make changes later on. The team has already made some changes in their coaching staff. Moin Khan, who was the head coach, is now in a director role. Shane Watson, a former Gladiators player, is the new coach. Shaun Tait, a former Pakistan bowling coach, is now in charge of coaching fast bowlers. The Gladiators are hoping these changes will help them improve because they have not been performing well in the last four years.
It is understood that Watson will be consulted for his opinion on the matter. While there is no definite information about a potential replacement, Rilee Rossouw, who returned to Gladiators from Multan Sultans, and Saud Shakeel, recognised for his leadership skills in domestic circles, are likely to be considered as top contenders.
Nadeem Omar, the owner of Gladiators, expressed his uncertainty about replacing Sarfaraz as captain on the Relukattay podcast this week. There's hesitation in parting ways with the only captain the franchise has ever had. Omar criticised the PCB for removing Sarfaraz as Pakistan skipper, expressing a preference for Sarfaraz to voluntarily step down as Gladiators captain. According to Omar, Sarfaraz has even agreed to relinquish the captaincy if necessary.
"It is the elephant in the room," Omar said. "Wherever I go, people ask me this. But our franchise is a bit different from the others in the sense that we have a very intimate relationship with these players. I understand cricketers have a shelf life, but I think over Pakistan history, we tend to dump players unceremoniously.”
"Sarfaraz has been off the boil over the last couple of years. There are a lot of reasons for that - the way he was unceremoniously ousted by the PCB didn't help, especially when he had a few more years. We won't dump him unceremoniously. We haven't decided yet, but we'll give him full honours. Sarfaraz told me he would be happy to step aside if Quetta wants to make a change. We have a call with Shane Watson in a couple of days, and then we'll decide."
The 36-year-old assumed the role of captain for the Quetta Gladiators when the PSL commenced in 2016. Under his leadership, the team reached the PSL final in its inaugural season. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as Pakistan's captain for white-ball cricket and successfully guided the national team to victory in the 2017 Champions Trophy.
In 2019, Sarfaraz led the Gladiators to their first PSL championship. However, his batting form declined, resulting in his removal as Pakistan's captain in all three formats within a year, and he was subsequently dropped from the national squad.
Unfortunately, the Gladiators' performance has deteriorated significantly since then. They have failed to qualify for the PSL playoffs in the last four seasons and consistently finished at the bottom or near the bottom of the league standings.
Currently, Sarfaraz is part of Pakistan's Test team and recently played in the opening Test match in Perth, which resulted in a 360-run victory for Australia.
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