Mickey Arthur: “Sarfaraz Ahmed had one thing that I hadn’t seen before. He had the ability to be an authoritative voice, like a disciplinarian on the field, but when he came into the dressing room, he transformed into a brother to the guys”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur said ex-captain Sarfaraz Ahmed had something he had never seen before.
Arthur noted that he has worked with some of the best captains in the game, including South Africa’s Graeme Smith, Australia’s Michael Clarke and Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq, but Sarfaraz had the ability to be an authoritative voice on the field and “a brother to the guys” in the dressing room.
The 52-year-old, who is now the head coach of Sri Lanka after Misbah replaced him as Pakistan’s coach, added that people only saw one side of Sarfaraz and judged him based on that.
With his brotherly side going unnoticed by many, Arthur pointed out that within the Pakistan team, the 33-year-old was “a very popular leader”.
Former Pakistan Head Coach Mickey Arthur explains how Sarfaraz Ahmed was different compared to other captains he has worked with during his time as a coach. pic.twitter.com/paO5KYNOZD
— Grassroots Cricket (@Grassrootsckt) December 8, 2020
“I was very privileged to work with Graeme Smith, Michael Clarke and Misbah-ul-Haq. They were very good leaders of men,” Arthur said on former Pakistan captain Aamer Sohail’s YouTube channel as quoted by Grassroots Cricket on Twitter.
“Sarfaraz Ahmed had one thing that I hadn’t seen before. He had the ability to be an authoritative voice, like a disciplinarian on the field, but when he came into the dressing room, he transformed into a brother to the guys. He had that.
“People saw what happened on the field, like his movements, but they didn’t see the other side of Sarfaraz in the dressing room. He was a very popular leader inside the changing room, and I loved working with him.”