Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz retires from international cricket

He finishes with 54 Tests, 117 ODIs and 61 T20Is and as the only Pakistan captain since Imran Khan to have lifted a 50-over ICC trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff

Published: Mar 15, 2026, 11:04 AM (54 mins ago)

Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has announced his retirement from international cricket. Sarfaraz led Pakistan to victory in the Champions Trophy 2017 and also the Under-19 World Cup in 2006. His international career spanned from 2007 to 2023 and he finishes with 54 Tests, 117 ODIs and 61 T20Is.

He was the first Pakistan captain since Imran Khan to win a 50-over ICC title.

"It has been the greatest honour of my life to represent Pakistan," he said in a PCB release. "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. I am grateful to my teammates, coaches, family and the fans for their unwavering support throughout my career.

"Captaining Pakistan across all formats was a dream come true. I always tried to play fearless cricket and build a united team. Seeing players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and others grow into match-winners during my captaincy is one of my proudest achievements.

Overall, he led Pakistan in 100 matches across formats - 13 Tests, 50 ODIs and 37 T20Is - and to the No. 1 rank in T20Is. Individually, he finished with 3031 Test runs with four centuries, 2315 runs in ODIs with two centuries and 818 in T20Is with three half-centuries. As a wicketkeeper, he took 315 catches and completed 56 stumpings across formats in international cricket.

One of the highs of Sarfaraz's career was how he took over ODI captaincy in February 2017 and led them to the Champions Trophy in June as the lowest-ranked team. The team then went on a hot streak which resulted in beating India in the final for the trophy.

He was highly-rated as captain in Pakistan, and, despite the Champions Trophy win, will perhaps be best remembered for his stint as T20I captain. Appointed in 2016, he transformed Pakistan into the best T20I side in the world, a ranking they held for over a year under his leadership. As captain, he won 29 of 37 T20Is, with the highest win percentage of any captain in the format in Pakistan. They would go on to win 11 successive T20I series, a world record.

But a sustained loss of personal form saw him abruptly removed as captain in all three formats in 2019, and then dropped from the side entirely, staying out of the team for over a year.

But he still found a way of creating memorable moments, most famously in a series against New Zealand in Karachi in 2022. In four innings in his home city, he scored 86, 53, 78, and 118, the last coming in the dying stages of the final day of the Test as Pakistan battled to chase down a tall New Zealand target before bad light ultimately forced a draw.

He returned to the side and played his last game for Pakistan against Australia in the Perth Test in December 2023. He was recently appointed to the selection panel for Pakistan's men's side.

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