In a telling tale, Haroon Rasheed revealed Sarfaraz Ahmed’s feelings of nervousness during his prior role as a Chief selector. The event occurred in 2015, when Asad Shafiq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and former Pakistani one-day captain Azhar Ali chose to participate in the annual Muslim pilgrimage known as Hajj.
In the first week of October, Pakistan and Zimbabwe were set to play an ODI series at the same time. The three players were initially going to be rested for the three ODIs in Zimbabwe by the national selection committee, so they could concentrate on their pilgrimage.
Rasheed described what had happened, saying that he had told Azhar Ali about the choice and given him the advice to tell Sarfaraz and Asad as well. But a few hours later, Sarfaraz called Haroon and expressed his intention to travel to Zimbabwe for the series. Haroon was speechless as Sarfaraz expressed his worries about being singled out and even losing his position on the team.
Zimbabwe was scheduled to host Pakistan. I’m describing it to you in terms of insecurities. Going for the Hajj were Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, and Sarfaraz Ahmed. After the Hajj was over, Pakistan had a game the following day. I, therefore, informed Azhar that you three should concentrate on performing the Hajj and can take a break for the series. He concurred. I advised them to inform Sarfaraz and Asad as well, Haroon Rasheed recounted in an interview with a local news outlet.
“After a couple of hours, Sarfaraz called and said he wanted to speak with me. He declared his desire to visit Zimbabwe. I was unable to respond to him after he said a few things. ‘You don’t know Haroon bhai that they are after me and they will kick me out,’ he claimed,’ Haroon revealed.
To address these fears, Rasheed emphasized the necessity for improved communication between selectors and players.
To make sure that players don’t feel insecure about their positions, we as selectors need to improve our communication with them, he continued.
In the aforementioned ODI series, which Pakistan won by a score of 2-1, all three players ultimately participated. Sarfaraz was outclassed as a batter in that series by Mohammad Rizwan, another wicketkeeper-batsman who was also a member of the ODI team. Sarfaraz’s batting average was 26.50, compared to Rizwan’s 83.
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