The England tour of Pakistan marks the return of Pakistan in the cricketing world after a long unexpected break due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Pakistan cricket team is currently facing England for a three-match Test series with the first match being played at Manchester.

Men in Green have been going strong in the first Test against the hosts as they put a massive score of 326 on the board. However, the team management has also landed themselves in a controversy as the former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was seen carrying drinks on the second day of Old Trafford Test.

Not only drinks, Sarfaraz also carried shoes in the middle after the wicket of his replacement Mohammad Rizwan fell in the 71st over of Pakistan’s 1st innings. The visuals of the former captain performing the duties of the 12th man didn’t go well with many Pakistani fans and the cricketers as they termed it as an insult to the senior player.

Rashid Latif hails Sarfaraz Ahmed for his greatness

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif slammed the team management for mocking the Karachi stalwart. Though he praised Sarfaraz for his greatness and passion for the game, Rashid questioned the authorities for such insensitive behavior towards a former captain. Sarfaraz was sacked from his captaincy role post World Cup 2019. He is hailed as a great captain as he led Pakistan to victory in Champions Trophy 2017 by defeating arch-rivals India in the final.

The former wicketkeeper also posed questions on the team’s spirit as other senior players like Mohammed Amir and Wahab Riaz were sitting in their tracksuits without wearing their cricket kits.

“Senior players like Amir and Wahab who are also sitting out, are not even in their kits. They are wearing tracksuits. This is not team spirit, but the greatness of Sarfaraz because he is passionate about the game. This should not have happened,” Rashid Latif stated as quoted by India Today.

Answering the questions thrown on the team management and Pakistan board related to the role of Sarfaraz in the team, head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq cleared that there is no shame in carrying drinks as he had also performed the duties of a 12th man when he the was captain and was sitting out in a match against Australia. Mishab further praised Sarfaraz saying he is an excellent human being and no one is disrespecting him.