‘Dumbest Decision’ or Not? Twitter Divided on Sarfaraz’ Sacking

Sarfaraz Ahmed was on Friday, 18 October, sacked as skipper of Test and T20I teams by the PCB.

Sarfaraz Ahmed was on Friday, 18 October, sacked as Pakistan’s skipper in Tests and T20Is following the team's unexpected loss in the home series against Sri Lanka.

Experienced batsman Azhar Ali will be replacing him as Test captain while Babar Azam will lead the T20 team until next year’s ICC T20 World Cup, said Pakistan Cricket Board in a press release.

The big announcement had Twitter divided.

‘Thanks PCB’

A section of Twitterverse supported the decision, saying it was long overdue.

Thankyou Misbah and Welcome Azhar Ali.
Sarfaraz's captaincy stint:

Hasn't performed well.

Doesn't care shit about Pakistan.

Zero Fitness.

No passion for the game.

No aggression on field.

No power hitting abilities and no range of shots.

Never lead from the front.#Cricket https://t.co/jFAENxpdXq

— Hashir Mehmood (@HashirrVK) October 18, 2019

Sarfaraz was out of sorts, had lost it completely . Hope he goes back and work on his batting skills. This is a forced decision Pcb wanted him as captain till T20 but it's just his batting form is so poor that you can't ignore it anymore

— Rameez shahid (@rameez_18) October 18, 2019

Thanks @TheRealPCB Finally Decided to remove Sarfaraz. Because of low performance and 0 captaincy. Please Bring back also @realshoaibmalik @MHafeez22 in Saquad its better for baber to learning from seniors

— Tayyab Jatt (@Tayyab337) October 18, 2019

Removing Sarfaraz Ahmed as the Skipper from all format is probably the decision taken by @TheRealPCB .
As a true observer of cricket I want this decision earlier

— Chulbul Abdi (@SalmanAabdi) October 18, 2019

Really happy on the decision of @TheRealPCB of removing @SarfarazA_54. He was a pathetic captain as well as a batsman. Never seen him batting with a high strike rate. He wasnt able to hit sixes nor acted like a captain. Hoping best for @babarazam258 #Captain #Sarfaraz

— MUHAMMAD AKIF (@MUHAMMA96972700) October 18, 2019

I dont wanna take anything away from #sarfaraz but he never really gave me vibes of a typical captain. It never seemed like he is lifting the confidence of those around him. His dull body language was hardly helpful. And most of all he was terribly lacking in charisma.

— Usama Javed (@Usamathejaved) October 18, 2019

Cricket expert and commentator Harsha Bhogle wrote, “Maybe captaincy wasn't his cup of tea but I always rated Sarfaraz as a cricketer. Huge pressure now on Babar Azam, already the best batsman, now captain too in limited overs cricket.”

Maybe captaincy wasn't his cup of tea but I always rated Sarfaraz as a cricketer. Huge pressure now on Babar Azam, already the best batsman, now captain too in limited overs cricket.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 18, 2019

‘Dumbest Decision Ever’

Some twitter users lashed out at PCB and the team management for sacking Sarfaraz. They reminded the cricket board that he led Pakistan to a Champions Trophy title in 2017 and made Pakistan the no 1 T20I team.

The first decion to make Waqar and Misbah Coach was a blunder. Can anyone tell me What they have achived when Waqar was the Coach untill 2016 and Misbah as a Caption? #Sarfaraz was the only one who Won the CT2017 and earn the no1 spot in t20

— Muhammad junaid (@realJunaidawan) October 18, 2019

11 consecutive T20 series
No.1 T20 side from 2 years
Lords Test
CT17 Champion
Sab Gya Pani me
Dumbest decision Ever
•Misbah & waqar are same persons that are not in fair of sarfaraz in WC15 and that lobby works again! He didn’t deserve this behaviour😞😭#SorryKAPTAAN #Sarfaraz pic.twitter.com/6U0MEIUf06

— HANDSOME PM (@HandsomePM) October 18, 2019

Removing Sarfaraz from the captaincy of Test and ODI is understandable. But removing him from T20 is so freaking wrong.
Misbah is turning out to be a nightmare. Hope, Babar's performance doesn't get affected because of the burden of captaincy.

— Sameer Siddiqui (@SenatorSameer) October 18, 2019

You can remove him as a test and
ODI captain but Y in T20? He
played 37 Matches Won 29 and
lost only 8 matches+ 11
consecutive series won by
Pakistan in his captaincy #Sarfaraz

— #AUSvPAK #AUSvPAK #T10Leagu (@PCBLive_PK) October 18, 2019

What's there to be surprised about? Don't we all know the Misbah, Waqar duo could NEVER have let #Sarfaraz continue?This is the same duo that kept him out of the team even when Nasir Jamshed was repeatedly failing in 2015 World Cup. Dropping Sarfaraz from T20 captaincy is idiotic

— Maria Shamim (@Mariaa_54) October 18, 2019

Pakistan cricket expert Dr Nauman Niaz also lashed out at Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq and the country’s cricket board.

Wasn’t time for Sarfraz to go. Babar needs time to settle as captain & in the culture we have where captain is often dictated. There is no freedom taking decisions.He is too naive to put his foot down. We wasted Safi now I hope it isn’t the time to destroy Babar @iRashidLatif68

— Dr. Nauman Niaz (@DrNaumanNiaz) October 18, 2019

Misbah has worst times as a white ball captain still he survived. He could have empathized with Safi. Rather he opted getting hard on him. Sad. In Australia there could be further devastation. How will Misbah justify then? if we lose Babar to such pressures will he take the blame

— Dr. Nauman Niaz (@DrNaumanNiaz) October 18, 2019