Former Pakistan pacer and bowling coach Umar Gul picked wicketkeeper batter, Sarfaraz Ahmed as a better captain than current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
Umar Gul in an interview, was asked to pick between Sarfaraz Ahmed and Babar Azam. The right-arm pacer unhesitantly picked the Champions Trophy-winning captain as a superior leader.
“In terms of captaincy, Sarfaraz Ahmed,” responded Gul to the comparison.
Gul, who leads the all-time T20I Rankings with a record 857 rating points was then asked to pick between Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi and he picked his former teammate Amir.
Umar gul picks :
* Sarfraz Ahmad over Babar Azam
* Muhammad Amir over Shaheen
Afridi@iamamirofficial @mdk_gul #Cricket pic.twitter.com/augGCRRS7I— Muhammad Noman (@nomanedits) July 4, 2023
It must be noted that Sarfaraz Ahmed is considered one of the most successful Pakistan captains as the side won the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 under his leadership.
He also led Pakistan to 11 successive T20I series victories amid his tenure.
Earlier, renowned Pakistan-based umpire Aleem Dar picked wicketkeeper batter Sarfaraz Ahmed as the best modern-day Pakistan captain.
Dar, while speaking on ARY News’ show Bouncer, was asked to pick the best Pakistan captain during his prolonged umpiring career.
He, in response, acknowledged all of Pakistan’s modern-day captains which included Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Babar Azam but revealed that the wicketkeeper batter had the edge over the rest due to his decision-making abilities.
“I believe every one of them had different qualities but if someone had superior game awareness and better captaincy skills then it was Sarfaraz,” shared Dar.
“I think a wicketkeeper is a better decision-maker because he is well aware of what the bowler is bowling and that is why I think it is very important that a wicketkeeper should be the captain,” he added.
Aleem Dar further shared his opinion regarding Babar Azam’s captaincy and claimed that he is also performing well but highlighted the importance of having a good team performance.
“Babar is also performing well but if there is no teamwork and you are performing well [individually] or doing captaincy [is not that important] and hence I believe having a good team [performance] is the most important thing,” stated Dar.