"Injustice was done to former captain who is still considered as one of most successful Pakistani captains," says left-arm pacer
Pakistani cricketer Rumman Raees on Tuesday apparently lashing out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not only removing Sarfaraz Ahmed — who led Pakistan to a maiden Champions Trophy triumph in 2017 and 11 consecutive T20I series wins — from captaincy but also dropping him from the ongoing home series against New Zealand.
Speaking in a YouTube podcast, Rumman said: "You [PCB] didn't just remove him from captaincy but also dropped him. And when you brought him back, he had to wait for four years to play his first international match. Yeah Kahan Ka Insaf Hai? [What sort of justice is this]?" he asked.
The cricketer said injustice was done to the former captain who is still considered as one of the most successful Pakistani captains.
"The one who has won you Champions Trophy, took the team from number seven to three in Tests, from number seven to one and two in ODIs and from number six to one in T20Is, and under his captaincy Pakistan won a record 11 consecutive T20I series, how can you remove him as captain on the basis of one bad series?" questioned the left-arm pacer who made his international debut under the captaincy of Sarfaraz.
Sarfaraz was reportedly forced to step down from his captaincy back in 2019 after Pakistan were knocked out of ICC World Cup that year. He didn't agree to the conditions, put forward by the then PCB setup led by Ehsan Mani, and continued leading Pakistan against Sri Lanka during the home tour.
Pakistan won the ODI series 2-0 but got whitewashed in the three-match T20I series. As a result, Sarfaraz was sacked and it sparked massive controversy. Sarfaraz's poor performance was presented as the reason behind his ouster.
Earlier this year, Sarfaraz made a comeback to Test cricket at home against New Zealand. He scored a match-saving century for Pakistan and made his case stronger.