Simon Doull: “He has been struggling with his batting form”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Simon Doull, the former New Zealand fast bowler, said Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed has struggled with his batting.
His comments come after Sarfaraz captained the Quetta Gladiators in the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he amassed 162 runs in eight matches at an average of 27 and a strike-rate of 104.51.
The Gladiators failed to make it to the playoffs as they only won three out of the 10 games they played.
“He has been struggling with his batting form,” Doull was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Interestingly, prior to PSL 8, Sarfaraz made his Test comeback as he replaced Mohammad Rizwan for the two-Test series against New Zealand.
In that series, he made 335 runs, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 83.75.
The 36-year-old Karachi-born cricketer also played in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in July 2023 and made 32 runs at an average of 16.
It should be noted that he was replaced by Rizwan midway through the second Test in Colombo as he was struck on the helmet. Rizwan batted during that match and scored an unbeaten 50.
Sarfaraz wasn’t selected for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan or the Asia Cup.
Pakistan started their Asia Cup campaign with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was rained off.
Despite this, they made it through to the Super Four and defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets.
The men in green had their strong momentum halted when they lost to India by 228 runs.
Still in with a chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, Pakistan could not do it as they succumbed to a two-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve:Â Tayyab Tahir