'Virat Kohli is the No. 1 batsman in world cricket': Sarfaraz Ahmed
Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s career has got a new lease of life after his selection for the upcoming England tour in August. Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was the skipper of the side which famously stunned India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, heaped praise on Pakistan's arch-rivals India and their two premier batsmen - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Sarfaraz Ahmed was stripped of the Pakistan captaincy from all three formats in October last year, and the wicketkeeper-batsman has seen enough to determine who the No. 1 batsman in the world is.
The former Pakistan skipper picked Virat Kohli as the best batsman in the world ahead of players like Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson. He was quoted saying the following:
“In today’s time, there should be no doubt, it is Virat Kohli who’s the world’s number 1 batsman," Sarfaraz Ahmed said in a chat with Anis Sajan.
“But, as I have told you before that when I have been behind the wicket, I have felt that although Rohit Sharma does not have that many runs in Test matches, the timing that he has is great. But the number one player in the world is definitely Virat Kohli. Nobody can match him,” the 33-year-old wicketkeeper added.
Sarfaraz Ahmed’s fortunes as captain of Pakistan dipped rapidly in the last few months but Pakistan achieved plenty of highs under his leadership. Pakistan won 11 T20I series in two years and even reached the No. 1 position in the format's ICC rankings.
“In 2016, I became captain for the first time and I had a lot of young boys with me, I had only one senior player and in between Hafeez bhai joined but unfortunately left soon. In my team, there were young boys and you know, you have played so many T20 matches, the same amount I have played too,” Sarfaraz Ahmed said.
“In the last 10 to 12 years, you have made at least two teams with 27-28 players. T20 cricket happens in Dubai and how fast it goes I have seen and experienced it.
“In T20 cricket, the point is that you play and win with young players the important part was our fielding. We won many matches that we were about to lose because of our fielding. You can bat and bowl, but for me, as a captain, I feel the main factor behind our success was our fielding,” the Karachi-born wicketkeeper said.
Sarfaraz Ahmed hopes for more India-Pakistan cricket in the furure
Sarfaraz Ahmed rues the lack of cricket between the neighbouring countries and hopes that cricket fans can see more of India-Pakistan cricket.
“Of course, there is this thing that people from India and Pakistan are quite passionate about cricket and have loads of love for the game. I have personally seen that there is a good friendship between Pakistani and Indian players,” Sarfaraz Ahmed hopes.