The Karachi-born wicketkeeper-batter enjoyed a long international career spanning nearly two decades. He represented Pakistan in 54 Tests, 117 One Day Internationals and 61 Twenty20 Internationals, scoring more than 6,000 runs across formats. Behind the stumps, he was equally impressive, completing 315 catches and 56 stumpings.
Sarfaraz’s greatest achievement came in 2017 when he captained Pakistan to Champions Trophy glory. In the final at The Oval, Pakistan produced a dominant performance to defeat arch-rivals India national cricket team by 180 runs.
Earlier in his career, Sarfaraz had also guided Pakistan’s youth team to victory in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2006.
“It has been the greatest honour of my life to represent Pakistan. From leading the U-19 team to a world title in 2006 to lifting the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, every moment in Pakistan colours has been special,” Sarfaraz said in a statement.
“Captaining Pakistan across all formats was a dream come true. I always tried to play fearless cricket and build a united team.”
He also expressed pride in seeing several players flourish during his captaincy, including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali.
Sarfaraz captained Pakistan in 100 international matches across all three formats and helped the team reach the number one position in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings during his tenure.
His final appearance for Pakistan came in a Test match against Australia national cricket team in Perth in December 2023.
