Sarfaraz Ahmed Retires: Former Pakistan Captain Wants To Focus On 'Other Roles'

Pakistani wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed on Sunday (March 15, 2026) announced his retirement from international cricket. Sarfaraz revealed his decision through a statement issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The only skipper from the country to win two major ICC tournament finals against arch-rivals India, Sarfaraz last played for the Pakistan national team in a Test match against Australia at Perth in December 2023.

A PTI report quoted a source as saying that the formal announcement will now allow the PCB to appoint the 38-year-old as head coach of the national Test team on a long-term basis.

The post of the nation's Test team head coach has been vacant since the PCB ended the contract of all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, who served as interim head coach of the red-ball team in 2025.

Sarfaraz was recently also named as a member of the Pakistan national selection committee after being appointed as mentor and manager of the country's under-19 and Shaheens squads.

Sarfaraz last played a first-class game in October 2025 but said in the statement that he now wants to focus on his other roles.

"I could never have dreamt of captaining Pakistan in all three formats and winning the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006 and the 2017 Champions Trophy... they are unforgettable moments for me," he said.

"It has been the greatest honour of my life to represent Pakistan... Seeing players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and others grow into match-winners during my captaincy is one of my proudest achievements," Sarfaraz added.

Sarfaraz further said that he had always tried to promote and play fearless cricket and build unity in the team.

Sarfaraz Ahmed's Career Stats

The keeper-batter, who hails from Karachi, represented the country in 54 Tests, 117 ODIs and 61 T20 internationals, and also captained in 100 international games across all three formats. He scored 6,164 runs across all three formats, which include six centuries and 35 half-centuries.

Behind the stumps, he had 315 catches, while he had 56 stumpings to his name as well. During his captaincy, Pakistan achieved a world-record streak of 11 consecutive T20I series victories and recorded six clean sweeps: against West Indies (2016 and 2018), Sri Lanka (2017), Australia (2018), New Zealand (2018) and Scotland (2018).