The legendary player who led the Pakistan Championship announced his retirement

Sarfaraz Ahmed retired from cricket

New Delhi: Pakistan’s veteran wicketkeeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed has announced his retirement from international cricket, ending his career spanning almost two decades. During this period, Sarfaraz has led Pakistan to many memorable victories in white-ball cricket.

international career development

Almost 16 years ago, in November 2007, Sarfaraz started his international cricket career through an ODI match against India in Jaipur. He played a total of 54 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 61 T20 International matches, in which he scored 6164 runs. His score includes 6 centuries and 35 half-centuries. There was no lack in his performance as a wicketkeeper, where he took 315 catches and 56 stumpings.

Achievements in captaincy

Captaincy in 100 matches
Sarfaraz captained Pakistan in all three formats. He led Pakistan in a total of 100 international matches, which included 50 ODIs, 37 T20 Internationals and 13 Tests. Under his captaincy, Pakistan topped the T20 International rankings and the team made a world record of 11 consecutive T20 series wins.

champions trophy win

The biggest moment of Sarfaraz’s captaincy was the victory of the ICC Champions Trophy held in England in 2017. Pakistan won the title by defeating India by 180 runs in the final. This was the biggest achievement of his career, making him the first Pakistan captain to win the ICC trophy at both junior and senior levels. In 2006, Pakistan also achieved success in the Under-19 World Cup under the captaincy of Sarfaraz.

Gave opportunity to new talents

Sarfaraz gave opportunities to many new players and honed their talent. These include prominent names like Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Fakhar Zaman, who went on to become important members of the team.

future after retirement

Sarfaraz received Pakistan’s prestigious civilian honor in 2018, becoming the youngest captain to receive the honour. However, after the arrival of Mohammad Rizwan, he got less playing opportunities. His last match was played during the Perth Test in December 2023. Now it is being discussed that Sarfaraz can get a place in Pakistan’s coaching staff after T20 World Cup 2026. At the time of announcing his retirement, he said, “Representing Pakistan has been the biggest honor for me.