Sarfaraz Ahmed hits back at Muhammad Hafeez

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has broken silence on the raging controversy in the cricket circles about who is Pakistan’s no 1 wicketkeeper-batsman while asking Muhammad Hafeez to show “positiveness”.

The Hafeez vs Sarfaraz debate was triggered after Hafeez’s congratulatory tweet to Muhammad Rizwan in which he had hit indirectly at his former skipper prompting a strong response from him.

Hafeez tweeted on Thursday to appreciate Rizwan for his ton and said, “Congratulations @iMRizwanPak on scoring T20 Hundred points. U r a Star shining star. Wonder how long u need to prove that u r NO1 wicketkeeper/Batsman in Pakistan in all formats of the game”.

This prompted a response from Ahmed who has not been included in the playing XI.

“Hafeez bhai Sb, whoever has played for Pakistan from Imtiaz Ahmed, Wasim Bari, Tasleem Arif to Saleem Yousuf and from Moin Khan, Rashid Latif to Kamran Akmal and even Rizwan right now has always been number ONE for the country and have been respected accordingly,” he tweeted to Hafeez.

Ahmed noted that everyone is behind Rizwan and wished he plays many more amazing innings for Pakistan.

“Aur ayende bhee jisko bhee chance milega wo Pakistan ke liye number ONE hee huga. (And whoever is given a chance to play would be no 1 for Pakistan).”

The former skipper also urged Hafeez to not create divisions. “We expect nothing but positiveness coming from an international player who has played so many games for Pakistan.”

Former players and experts have also been commenting on the matter since Rizwan emerged as a pillar for the cricket team and rescued it at different occasions.