DUBAI: Azhar Ali has stepped down as Pakistan’s one-day captain following the team’s heavy defeat in Australia with wicket-keeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed taking over the job, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Thursday.

Azhar’s job was on the line since Pakistan’s 4-1 defeat in England in September last year but he was given a lifeline after he led the side to a clean sweep against West Indies in the United Arab Emirates in September-October.

“Azhar came to me and said that his batting form was affecting due to captaincy and that he wanted to step down, so we have appointed Sarfraz as one-day skipper,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said.

the 29-year-old Sarfraz, who accepted the one-day captaincy, is already leading the Twenty20 side since last year.

A PCB media release said: “Azhar Ali recently called on PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan and informed him that he wished to relinquish the captaincy of Pakistan’s ODI team mainly because it was affecting his batting form.

“PCB thanked him for his dignified leadership of the team and informed him that his standing in the team would not be affected by his relinquishing of the captaincy,” it added.

Azhar managed just 37 in the three matches in Australia and missed the remaining two with injury.

Azhar was surprisingly appointed captain after Misbah-ul-Haq retired from one-day cricket following Pakistan’s quarter-final exit in the World Cup in 2015.

He led Pakistan in 31 One-day Internationals winning 12 and losing 18. One match ended without result due to rain.

The speculation was mounting about the future of Azhar’s captaincy following the team’s 4-1 series loss in Australia last month.

Under his captaincy Pakistan plummeted to ninth in one-day rankings.

Currently at eighth Pakistan risks having to qualify for the 2019 World Cup to be held in England.

But under Azhar’s captaincy moved up a place in the ICC rankings to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy — a top-eight tournament in England and Wales — in June this year.

The top seven teams plus hosts England will get direct entry in the 2019 World Cup while four other ranked teams will feature in a 10-team qualifying round in 2018.

Some former Test cricketers, including ex-Pakistan captain Wasim Akram and former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, criticised Azhar’s captaincy after Pakistan lost the recent ODI series in Australia.

The PCB surprisingly made Azhar ODI captain soon after the World Cup in 2015, after which Misbah-ul-Haq quit the limited-overs captaincy.

Azhar was not part of the Pakistan’s World Cup squad, which was beaten in the quarter-finals by hosts and eventual champions Australia, and since then his defensive approach in limited-overs cricket was often criticised by former cricketers.

“Azhar was under a lot of pressure and the writing was on the wall,” Shoaib told a private television. “He did the right thing to step down and we should endorse it. “

Shaharyar, meanwhile, said Test captain Misbah’s future is also in question.

Pakistan’s 3-0 Test series loss in Australia in December-January — their fourth consecutive whitewash — had raised calls for his sacking.

“Misbah has asked for some time [about his future] so we have given him time to decide in the next few days,” said Shaharyar.

Pakistan players are currently featuring in the second edition of the Pakistan Super League in United Arab Emirates, which started in Thursday night with holders Islamabad United playing Peshawar Zalmi.

Pakistan’s next international assignment is the three-match ODI and three-Test tour of the West Indies starting in late March.