Why Sarfraz Ahmed should not be relieved of Test captaincy
How are Sarfraz Ahmed's individual performances going along? Should he be captaining a young and experience-lacking side? Does he possess the experience needed to lead the Green Army? Is he recommended, required, forced upon or being pampered by the kind management?
Everytime he is seen walking back to the pavilion, comes the tsunami of thought-provoking queries in the CPUs of many, and fumes start to blacken the bright side of him. Things go wonted as the vibe of overall conquest takes over. In very less span, it subsists, not elucidating enough.
Is he different than other captains? Well, a lot. He has his unique ways of having his army marshaled. Neither does he copy Imran Khan nor is he Misbah-like. He is just a variation in the world of captains, especially who are wicket-keepers too.
His calibre of orchestration, his vocal cords reflexes, relocation of players and admiration after loathe find new ways of slipping through the roughness on his part.
Is he chirpy behind the sticks? Yeah, but look at the positives it adds to the team composed of youngsters. Standing at cover or somewhere close to the cushions, a captain cannot interrogate his bowler on his lines. Sarfraz did that efficiently.
He reacts more to a misfield than to a bowler conceding a six. He has been excellent in setting up the bowlers according to his plans, to hold the fame of Pakistan as a good bowling side. It's not like he is phenomenal or stellar in his approach and nails the perfect decisions every time. But he is a blessing in a disguise for the team of youngsters. He nailed some pretty good decisions in the shorter formats recently.
Is he not a T20 batsman? Does he lack big shots? Yes he's rusty at times. In contrast to his fidgety nature as a batsman, he is safe as houses to keep the spin devils in their cages and sweep them with the short-handled mop. He, with the deft of the contacts, gives some work to third man. He's a mystery box to be exact - and his leadership is doing some invisible wonders. It's not like he is bossy. He blasts over Shadab for bowling flat, wide and quick but he's also the one who lauds him with the remarks of hitting a "million dollar shot".
Why does he send Faheem and Imad ahead of him? Is he afraid? That's the thing about him. He knows the capabilities of his teammates and values them.
The question over his captaincy in Tests has taken a serious beating. Bending low, stepping ahead of the line, welcoming the room by stepping away, he suggests to some that he isn't a suitable Test cricketer.
It necessitates guidance not sacking. In Tests, a game where bowlers have to come ahead of the batsman with their mind games, he shouldn't be enacting LOI tactics. For example, Yasir Shah doesn't need to have his length corrected each time by the keeper. He is enough of a leg-spin connoisseur to go past the batsmen's plans. But he can get a piece of advice from Sarfraz on batsman's intentions though.
Sometimes, he has left us bewildered by his decisions in Tests. He needs more experience to verify PCB's programs of sticking with him till World Cup 2019 and beyond. That's where he needs to be flourished, guided and of course helped on his batting technique to not hard hand to edge easily or to let an Anderson delivery peg his stumps after taking help from his pads.
In my view, he deserve to be given a plausible chance and not to be goaded against his merry ways.