Former Pakistani bowler Sarfraz Nawaz on Tuesday (January 29) questioned the decision of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to appoint Shoaib Malik as team’s stand-in captain in South Africa after International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Sarfaraz Ahmed for four internationals.
Sarfaraz was suspended by the ICC for four international matches following his racist remarks against South Africa's Andile Phehlukwayo during the second match of the five-match One Day International series.
Following the episode, PCB named veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik as stand-in skipper for the remaining matches of the South Africa tour, and even he led Men in Green to an 8-wicket win in the fourth ODI to level the five-match ODI series 2-2 in Johannesburg on January 27.
Meanwhile, Nawaz was critical at PCB’s decision while recalling the time when Malik, in the past, was asked to quit the captaincy due to the suspicions of fixing matches.
On Tuesday, Nawaz told Dawn, “Malik had to quit the captaincy of Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League when an English cricketer raised doubts over his certain decisions during a match.”
Former pacer continued, “On another occasion, Malik while leading Sialkot Stallions, lost a domestic T20 match deliberately and also admitted it in the post-match talk.”
He also slammed the PCB for its decision to call Sarfraz to Pakistan despite known that the regular skipper would be able to lead the side in the final T20I match in South Africa after completing the ban.
Nawaz signed off by saying, “This would give wrong signals to the team and the players about his (Sarfraz’s) future in the team.”
(With Dawn Inputs)
