Given how the franchise ended its last season, this was not unexpected. However, not many people were prepared for the news to come at a time when the Pakistan Super League is set to start within a week. The end of Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy stint with Quetta Gladiators, who will compete in Pakistan’s premier league for the first time for a full season without his leadership, poses questions as to who will assume the role.
As told by the CEO of the Quetta-based team, Nadeem Omar, Ahmed decided to take a break from this arduous duty and Rilee Rossouw has been announced as the new skipper after consultation with the team coach, Shane Watson. Confirming it to Geo News, Omar said,
“Sarfaraz wants to take a break from captaincy with new head coach Shane Watson set to decide who will lead the side after consulting with the team management,
Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy records in PSL:
Sarfaraz, as the records state, is the country’s most successful captain, with two ICC trophies in his trove. His PSL record started on a high note too. The purple team reached three back-to-back finals under the Karachi-born’s guidance. He, however, could not keep his dynamic leadership alive for a long time. It was in 2019 when the team reached its apogee with shining PSL silverware beside them. Since then, both Quetta and Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy have been falling down the hill. All in all, he captained Gladiators in 80 matches in his eight-year-long tenure, maintaining a W/L ratio of just a tick above 48%.
Recent changes in Quetta Gladiators:
Gladiators have been overhauling their management ever since the preparations for the T20 league commenced. The wave of change began with the letting go of many important players including Naseem Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Mohammad Nawaz. This made space to rope in Mohammad Amir, Usman Qadir, Rilee Rossouw, and Abrar Ahmed among others. The squad looked complete but the franchise went on to get more new faces. They returned to one of their alumni from the winning team, Shane Watson, and brought him in as the head coach. Nadeem also hinted at bringing back another of their winning squad, Kevin Pietersen, back to the team in some role.
“The old family of Quetta Gladiators has started coming together again. Pietersen should also come with Quetta Gladiators in some role,” he stated
Sarfaraz’s demotion is the latest development in this revamp spree and now it remains to be seen who will be named to take charge of the team. Some reports suggest that Pakistan’s middle-order batter, Saud Shakeel, and South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw are among the strongest contenders for captaincy. Interestingly, Shakeel has never played a single PSL game donning Quetta’s jersey. Rilee, on the other hand, has been a part of the franchise for three years before moving to Multan.
Quetta Gladiators squad in the ninth edition of PSL:
Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Amir, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Jason Roy, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Sajjad Ali Junior, Usman Qadir, Omair Bin Yousuf, Will Smeed, Khawaja Nafay, Adil Naz, Akeal Hosain, and Sohail Khan.
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