Jason Gillespie: “Sarfaraz has been a wonderful servant and has captained the country very well, but we know Saifi isn’t getting any younger. At some point, we’re going to need to start exploring and offering opportunities to some other players”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has admitted that he plans to move on from veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed in the near future so that other players can be given an opportunity to play for the national team.
Sarfaraz has served as the back-up to Mohammad Rizwan for the past few years, but has featured sporadically for the men in green in a couple of games.
However, while Gillespie acknowledged everything the former captain has done for Pakistan, he reiterated it is time for younger talent to come into the team and show off their abilities.
The ex-Australia fast bowler added that he plans to implement a similar approach for Pakistan’s spinners as he has seen a lot of youngsters with great potential.
“Sarfaraz has been a wonderful servant and has captained the country very well, but we know Saifi isn’t getting any younger. At some point, we’re going to need to start exploring and offering opportunities to some other players, and the same with spin bowling. There are a lot of young spinners on show in this tournament (Champions One-Day Cup) and in first-class cricket. We want to create depth in all disciplines. The domestic structure and the Shaheens will help with that,” Gillespie was quoted as saying by Grassroots Cricket on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sarfaraz wasn’t part of Pakistan’s playing XI in their two-Test series against Bangladesh, which the men in green lost 2-0.
Pakistan are now facing England in a three-Test series, which is tied at 1-1.
Sarfaraz wasn’t part of the squad selected for the second and third Tests.
The third Test will begin on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.