OTD | Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was born in 1987

On this day, back in 1987, former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed was born, who has taken his side to the epitome of the level with his huge success. Notably, Ahmed has led his national side in all three forms. His side won the Champions Trophy in 2017 after defeating MD Dhoni-led Team India under his leadership. Coincidentally, he also led Pakistan during the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, where they outclassed Team India in the final game.

Speaking about his early days, Sarfaraz’s notable performance came when he led the U-19 World Cup in 2006, where his team defeated India in the final game in a low-scoring encounter. Following the same, he was called by the Pakistan team to replace Kamran Akram, who was injured in 2007. He got the chance to make his debut in the last game of the ODI series on November 18, 2007, but he didn’t get the chance to bat as Pakistan had already chased down the total against Team India. Meanwhile, after his debut, he got the chance to place himself in the 2008 Asia Cup. Sarfaraz also got the chance in the 2015 ODI World Cup but did not feature in the first four games.

The star cricketer had emerging potential as a skipper after Misbah retired from the ODI format just after the 2015 ODI World Cup. Meanwhile, he has also been named a T20I captain after Pakistan had a poor performance during the 2016 T20 World Cup, which took place in his country, India. In addition, he was appointed as a Test skipper on September 28, 2017 after his successful leadership in white ball.

The wicketkeeper batter’s first major tournament as a skipper was the 2017 Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, in pool matches, Pakistan lost to India but won against South Africa, and Sri Lanka placed them in the final game. However, his side defeated hosts England in the semi-final game before outclassing arch-rivals India in the final game.

Also read: Indian off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna was born in 1940