Miandad advices Sarfraz ‘not to worry’ and lead Pakistan

Pakistan legendary batsman and former captain Javed Miandad has come to support embattled captain Sarfraz Ahmed, saying that instead of blaming the skipper, Pakistan should pluck out the ‘under-performing players.’

“My message for Sarfraz is not to worry about this sort of pressure and to continue leading the team with the best of his abilities. You cannot run a cricket team by looking at statistics alone and in my book, Sarfraz’s name would feature as the first name on any team list I would make as to me, he is our best wicket-keeper who can also score runs when needed,” said Miandad, quoted PakPassion.net.

“Honestly speaking, we have no other option to replace him as Test captain and he should be persisted with and to those looking for scapegoats for the defeat to New Zealand, my advice would be to think of getting rid of some of the under-performing players instead of the captain,” added the batting legend. The statement comes after Pakistan suffered a 2-1 Test defeat against New Zealand at UAE.

Speaking about the upcoming tour of South Africa, the former captain was of the view that Pakistan batting-line lacks the technique to counter South Africa. “I am afraid I do not expect much from the Pakistan batting line-up during the South Africa tour. The wickets that Pakistan will encounter in South Africa will be difficult to play on and only if the batting clicks can we have a chance of something positive from this tour," he said.

“However, I don’t feel that our Test batsman have the technique needed to adjust to different wickets around the world and this is not something which is a new phenomenon as far as Pakistan are concerned,” Miandad added.

Pakistan is scheduled to play a three-match away Test series against South Africa from December 26 to January 15.