RAWALPINDI: 2019 champions Quetta Gladiators have rested their former captain and wicketkeeper batter Sarfaraz Ahmed for their Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 clash against Peshawar Zalmi here on Friday.
The Gladiators, currently third in the standings, made three changes to their Playing XI as they take on fierce rivals Zalmi in an all-important duel at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
They replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sherfane Rutherford and Usman Tariq with Laurie Evans, Omair Bin Yousuf and Sohail Khan respectively.
The changes marked the first instance that their former captain Sarfaraz would miss the Gladiators’ match without being injured.
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He had missed only two matches for Quetta Gladiators, both last season, due to an injury to his finger, since the inception of the league in 2016.
Notably, Sarfaraz Ahmed had a dismal PSL 9 campaign as he managed only 22 runs in six matches at a dismal average of 5.5 and a best score of 11 which came against defending champions Lahore Qalandars.
His poor form with the bat spans back to the previous edition of the marquee league as he accumulated 162 runs in eight innings at 27 with the best score of 41.
His last half-century in the league came in the 2022 edition when he scored an unbeaten 50 to propel Quetta Gladiators to a thrilling victory over Islamabad United.
However, Sarfaraz Ahmed boasts a decent record with the bat in the PSL. He is the eighth all-time leading run-scorer with 1525 runs in 73 innings at an average of 29.32 and a strike rate of 122.68.
He also led Quetta Gladiators to their solitary PSL title in 2019.
READ: Aaqib Javed opens up about Lahore Qalandars’ struggles in PSL 9