Former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is on the verge of taking over as head coach of the Pakistan Test team, with the position remaining vacant for nearly five months. Meanwhile, Azhar Mahmood supervised the team during the recent Test tour in South Africa.As reported by Geo News, Sarfaraz is expected to take over the position before Pakistan’s upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh in May. He is currently with the Pakistan Shaheens in the UAE, where they are participating in T20 matches and one-day matches against the England Lions. An official confirmation is expected from the Board of Directors soon.See also: NZ vs SA T20 World Cup semi-final live score
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Sarfaraz’s growing credentials as a coach were boosted after he led the Pakistan U-19 team to victory in the Asia Cup.
During that campaign, several supporters reportedly contacted PCB president Mohsin Naqvi, urging him to name the former captain into the first red-ball team.Pakistan currently sit fifth in the World Test Championship standings, following a home draw against South Africa in October. Their next assignment in the tournament begins on May 8, when they host Bangladesh in a two-Test competition.In his playing days, Sarfraz appeared in 54 Tests, amassing 3,031 runs with four centuries and 21 half-centuries.
He captained Pakistan in 13 of those matches, claiming four victories, including the famous win at Lord’s against England in 2018. His last Test appearance came against Australia in Perth in 2023.Across white-ball formats, he represented Pakistan in 117 ODIs, scoring 2,315 runs with two hundreds and 11 fifties, and played 61 T20Is, accumulating 818 runs. As a captain, he has had notable success, most notably leading Pakistan to the 2017 Champions Trophy title. He also captained the team in the 2019 ODI World Cup, where Pakistan narrowly missed out on reaching the semi-finals despite winning five of their nine league matches.
In T20 international matches, he has maintained an impressive win rate of 78.37 per cent as captain.