Rashid Latif says it was a blunder to sack Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur

Former Pakistan Test skipper and a wicket-keeper batsman Rashid Latif has come hard at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and said that it was a blunder on their part to remove Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur from the post of a captain and a head coach after the team’s elimination in the 2019 World Cup. 

“Why was Mickey Arthur removed…what was the reason for his sacking? The team had done well under him and it was progressing well. Check the records and you can see but he was removed because of politics,” Latif said on the YouTube Cricket Baaz channel. He further added that even Sarfaraz under whose captaincy Pakistan won the 2017 Champions Trophy also didn’t deserve to be removed from the captaincy role. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had sacked Mickey Arthur following Pakistan’s failure to reach the 2019 World Cup semi-finals. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Ahmed was removed from his post in October-November 2019 following their 0-3 drubbing in a T20 series at the hands of a second-string Sri Lankan side. Sarfaraz and Arthur were at the helm of affairs when Pakistan lifted the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2017. 

“I don’t blame Misbah-ul Haq, perhaps he didn’t want to be head coach. He was young and inexperienced as a coach so why appoint him? It is the PCB to be blamed for what has happened,” Latif said.

Latif felt that following Arthur and Sarfaraz’s sacking, the team had undergone several changes which hasn’t augured well for Pakistan cricket. 

“Today we have lost to a second string England team badly in the One-Day series which means that our cricket is not good enough to even beat England’s bench strength,” Latif added. 

Latif is hopeful of the fact that Pakistan can bounce their way back in the T20I series which will be a part of their preparation for the T20 World Cup slated to be played in UAE and Oman in October-November. 

“Let’s just hope they can bounce back because we can’t afford any more setbacks,” Latif concluded.