Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed erred behind the stumps to miss a golden opportunity to dismiss veteran Australia batter David Warner (164) in the first of a three-match Test series. In the process, he leaked a bye as well.
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With Pakistani bowlers already leaking a lot of runs throughout the first two sessions on Day 1 at the Optus Stadium, a disappointed fan of wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan perhaps had it enough.
It all happened on the first delivery of the 64th over when all-rounder Agha Salman (0/70) beat Warner outside the off-stump. With the left-handed batter stepping down the track, the off-spinner shortened his length on purpose to deceive him. With the ball spinning sharply past Warner’s outside edge, Ahmed couldn’t grab it as it further deflected off his shoulders to reach former captain Babar Azam at first slip.
Wanting to run-out Warner, who had run way down the track whilst batting on 141* at the time, Azam threw the ball back at the stumps only to miss it even from a short distance. As a result, allowing Warner and Australia co-vice-captain Travis Head to run an overthrow.
As a result, a fan of Rizwan considered it as an apt opportunity of taking a dig at “first-choice” wicket-keeper batter Ahmed, who had also made keeping mistakes in the warm-up match in Canberra.
“First choice keeper though. Apparently Rizwan doesn’t deserve a place ahead of this clown,” a fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
First choice keeper though. Apparently Rizwan doesn’t deserve a place ahead of this clown
— Prince (@AzzyShahzzy) December 14, 2023
One of the few debatable decisions in this Pakistani Playing XI, a large section of fans wanted Rizwan to earn back his spot due to his potential irrespective of his or Ahmed’s current form.
One of Pakistan’s top-performers across both the white-ball formats, Rizwan often finds himself at the receiving end of immense support from fans. Even during ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, he was Pakistan’s highest run-scorer amassing 395 runs at an average of 65.83 and a strike rate of 95.41.
Did Sarfaraz Ahmed Deserve To Play Perth Test?
Having not played an international match for 12 months, Sarfaraz Ahmed was preferred ahead of Rizwan during the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in Karachi last year. Since then, he has managed to retain his spot across the five Tests Pakistan have played.
Before asked to warm the bench in 2022, Rizwan had played eight Tests in the year scoring 401 runs at an average of 30.85 including one century. Considering six of them were home games, these numbers weren’t enough for him to keep Ahmed, who had been doing well in domestic cricket, out of the XI.
Been given a chance at the age of 35, Ahmed justified the decision by scoring 335 runs at an average of 83.75 with the help of one century and three half-centuries across four innings against New Zealand.
Even though Ahmed failed in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle before being replaced by Rizwan in the second one in Colombo due to a concussion injury, one believes, he as a Player of the Series in his penultimate series, rightly deserved to start in Perth today.
As for Rizwan, 31, readers must note that he was pretty close to participating in the ongoing match as a specialist batter. Assuming Ahmed continues to commit errors behind the stumps or doesn’t contribute as a batter in what is his third Test tour of Australia, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rizwan getting a go in either of Melbourne or Sydney.
