Sarfaraz Ahmed: “Babar Azam gave me a lot of confidence as well”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Sarfaraz Ahmed has revealed that Pakistan captain Babar Azam gave him so much confidence when he made his long-awaited Test comeback.
The 35-year-old got the chance to play both Test matches against New Zealand, even though Mohammad Rizwan is usually the go-to wicketkeeper-batsman in all three formats.
Sarfaraz looked great when batting at the crease throughout the series as he amassed 335 runs, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 83.75.
“Babar Azam gave me a lot of confidence as well,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Sarfaraz is now leading the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Azam is captaining the Peshawar Zalmi after being traded to them from the Karachi Kings in return for Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik.
Quetta Gladiators Squad for PSL 8: Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jason Roy, Mohammad Hasnain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Naveen ul Haq, Umar Akmal, Will Smeed, Naseem Shah, Odean Smith, Mohammad Hafeez, Umaid Asif, Muhammad Zahid, Abdul Bangalzai, Aimal Khan, Martin Guptill, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qais Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Dwaine Pretorius (partial replacement for Odean Smith), Will Jacks (partial replacement for Jason Roy), Nuwan Thushara (partial replacement for Naveen ul Haq)
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal, Salman Irshad, Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Arshad Iqbal, Saim Ayub, Usman Qadir, Suifyan Muqeem, Haseebullah, Jimmy Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail, Richard Gleeson (partial replacement for Rovman Powell), Peter Hatzoglou (partial replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman), Shakib Al Hasan (available for playoffs), Azmatullah Omarzai