LAHORE: PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, while addressing the media on Friday, said: “I want to congratulate Azhar Ali and Babar Azam on their elevations to the most coveted and prestigious jobs in cricket. It is a reward for their continued hard work in strive for excellence and I am sure they, like their predecessors, will make the country proud with their performance, leadership and sportsmanship.

“It has been a difficult decision to drop Sarfraz Ahmed, who has performed well as a player and a leader. But his loss in form and confidence is visible and, in the best interest of the team, it has been decided to leave him out and provide him the opportunity to reflect and regroup himself and try to reclaim his form away from international cricket.

“Sarfraz’s contributions are second to none and being the gutsy cricketer and fighter that we all know he is, I have no doubts he will be back in Pakistan colours at some stage,” the PCB chairman added.

“Decision on vice-captaincy will be made closer to the series, whilst captaincy for the ODIs will be finalised in due course as the national team’s next assignment is scheduled from July 4-9, 2020 against the Netherlands in Amstelveen,” the PCB press release concluded.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2019