Sarfaraz Ahmed is regarded as one of the best white-ball captains to lead Pakistan. The side claimed many victories under his leadership, T20I series win in New Zealand, becoming No.1 in the shorter format and importantly, winning the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
But the scenes have turned drastically for him since October 2019 after he was sacked from the captaincy and was also dropped from all formats of the game.
He is with the national team as a 'second-choice' wicketkeeper and has played only four white-ball matches in the last 18 months or so.
Although, he is captaining Quetta Gladiators in HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) but the team's performance has drastically declined in the past two seasons. They finished fifth and sixth respectively in season five and six.
The criticism on Sarfaraz was happening even he was the captain of the side. His fitness and role within the team were two main questions. His batting form declined while Pakistan's ODI and Test record suffered very much too. One thing is for sure, he never thought about personal goals and pushed others to perform but this deteriorated his case of staying in the side.
Babar Azam, being the performer emerged as the potential leader and Pakistan has reasonably done well under him until now.
It is understandable and human nature of reacting to negative things which comes your way but absorbing them and opting to move forward makes you even bigger.
There has also been debate about his on-field aggression and the critics have also pointed out these things. Recently, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt pointed fingers at Sarfaraz's captaincy and his recent performance but the wicketkeeper opted to respond by reminding him of his past.
"He (Sarfaraz) is not doing any favour for himself. He is only creating difficulties for himself, and I’m sure he won’t have any answer for that today," Butt had said in a now-deleted video.
"He needs to concentrate on himself; he needs to look after his own performance, as he has been travelling with the Pakistan team as a second-choice wicketkeeper in the past 1.5 years. He needs to look after his own performance and not interfere with others,"
Without referring directly, Sarfaraz pointed out that a person who ‘sold his country’ should be the last to talk about moral grounds.
"Pakistan ko 'on duty' beachne wala fixer jab niyat pe bhashan dega phir to Allah he Hafiz hai #justsying,"(Those who sold Pakistan while 'on duty' should be the last person to judge the intention of others)," he tweeted.
The cricket fraternity is divided on whether Sarfaraz needs to post witty tweets or not but the general impression is he needs to sit back, absorb the criticism and move forward. He is not entitled to reply back as he is respectable and also currently part of the set-up.
Sarfaraz is just 34 and still, he has a lot to play for Pakistan. Evolving himself as a modern-day batsman and working on his fielding skills might allow him to make comeback.
Remember, Kamran Akmal used to score a ton of runs in domestic cricket as a wicketkeeper but Sarfaraz's spot in the side was affirmed and now the same happening with Sarfaraz as Mohammad Rizwan is playing and performing across formats.
The fans are with him and they still want the same energetic Sarfaraz who lit up his presence with impactful performances in 2014, eventually being the mainstay in the side until 2019.