Rex Clementine
in Galle

In the year 2006, Sri Lanka were hosting the ICC Under-19 World Cup. The hosts were skippered by Angelo Mathews. There was a game at SSC between New Zealand and Pakistan and former Test captain Arjuna Ranantunga had come along to watch. Chatting to reporters, he said that he saw something special in Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed. It was a short game where Pakistan chased down a target less than 100 runs in ten overs. Not sure what had impressed Arjuna, but he was highly taken up by Sarfraz. We were given a glimpse of Sarfraz’s leadership in the final of that tournament at RPS between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

Pakistan had been shot out for 109. For an Indian side comprising Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, this was a cake walk you thought. But India were in for a rude shock as Sarfraz attacked with his quicks. He used only three of them and mighty India surrendered as they were bowled out for 71 inside 20 overs as Pakistan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. They owed it to their skipper. What had impressed Arjuna earlier during the group game was Sarfraz’s attacking instincts. The moment he saw an opportunity, he pushed the opposition to the brink. He was willing to give up boundaries in a bid to keep up the pressure and as a result Pakistan won a final that they did not deserved to.

Sarfraz’s attacking instincts were visible when he skippered Pakistan’s senior side. He is calm, doesn’t get rattled, gambles with attacking field placings and bold bowling changes. He may not be leading the world’s most talented cricket team but Pakistan benefited thanks to their smart captain who was creative and unafraid.

Pakistan often under-perform in big tournaments. Their last major victory in an ICC event was in the Champions Trophy in England in 2017. Pakistan had barely qualified for the event and were ranked last.  But Sarfraz inspired a young team to punch above their weight. In that tournament, Sri Lanka had almost delivered Pakistan the knockout punch in Cardiff. Then that dropped catch of Pakistan captain by Thisara Perera and the rest is history. Sarfraz came for the press conference and rubbed salt into Sri Lankan wounds when he said, ‘I will remember that dropped catch for the rest of my life and Thisara will remember it for the rest of his life.’

Pakistan is a team that often has deep divisions. Sarfraz brought them together. While his leadership skill has been appreciated, not much has been said about his honesty. In 2017, Sri Lanka were playing Pakistan in  UAE and there was an approach to corrupt a game and Sarfraz reported it immediately. Given the reputation his country has had with corruption allegations, this won them a lot of admirers. Sarfraz was taking the team in the right direction.

Sarfraz is in Sri Lanka at the moment. But he’s no longer the captain. He may not even play any of the two Tests. He’s just a back up wicketkeeper. He’s out of favour because he is not the best wicketkeeping batsman in his country. Well, he’s got three Test hundreds unlike our man. But Pakistan feel there are other batters who add value to the side.

The question you need to ask is when someone has exceptional leadership skills, he is a very good keeper and a decent batsman should that be not good enough for him to hold onto a place in the side?Cricket’s craze to back wicketkeepers who contribute significantly with the bat is driving away some of the best keepers and leaders in the game.