England captain keeps selection doors open ahead of T20 World Cup
The English summer begins with the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy on Saturday, giving domestic players the chance to play themselves into the plans for the T20 World Cup squad.
The Pakistan Cricket Board was not expecting that their captain Sarfraz Ahmed would be banned for four matches by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his racist slur when they named him skipper to lead the Men-in-Green in the T20 series in South Africa.
On Sunday, ICC gave a four-match suspension to Ahmed for his racial remark on South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo during the second one-dayer in Durban on January 22. ICC has also asked Sarfraz to undergo an education programme to understand the issue.
“He will be put through an education program immediately to make him realize where he went wrong. The good thing is he immediately apologized for his comments.”
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Sarfraz is also the first Pakistani player to be penalized by the ICC under its anti-racism code.
“We were not aware what penalty the ICC would impose on him and when. There was some doubt if Sarfraz would face a ban after he had apologised publicly and in person to the South Africa players including Andile Phehlukwayo,” a PCB official told PTI.
During the 2nd ODI between Pakistan and South Africa, Sarfraz was heard on the stump mic making racist remarks aimed at Phehlukwayo.
On Monday, PCB named Shoaib Malik their skipper in the absence of Sarfraz Ahmed and Muhammad Rizwan replaced him as the wicketkeeper-batsman in the team.
Muhammad Rizwan has also been recalled in Pakistan’s T20 squad, in which Ahmed Sarfraz was named skipper and keeper.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf has lauded ICC’s decision.
“It could have been worse for Sarfraz but this will be a lifetime lesson for him to understand that as captain he carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and he can’t behave like this in international matches,” Yousuf said.
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