Are you happy now coach?

What do you do when you are forced to sit on the bench even after proving your worth time and again, how do you keep your emotions locked when you see a lesser talent drop dollies and you are forced to fill bottles and dry towels?

How do you put up a brave face and hold back your tears when you helplessly see your team loosing and people showering sympathy everywhere you go, and how do you hit back when your skills are questioned and your effectiveness challenged?

You do exactly what Sarfaraz Ahmed did, put all negativities aside, sharpen your claws, smell blood and go for the kill.

Whenever the great Tiger Woods faced the raciest taunts, he remembered his mother’s life changing lesson, “Son, let your stick do the talking”.

Sarfaraz, probably unaware of the famous quote, still managed to pick the message and silenced his critics by a captivating performance that would be hard to match in modern times.

Just think for a moment, was there anything going in his favour? Absolutely nothing!

It was his first World Cup match and his first appearance in the tournament and his confidence was shattered by missing the first four matches.

Coach Waqar Younis infected more dents by questioning his technique and above all, the match was played in the over cast conditions of Eden Park, famous for being a torturing dungeon for batsmen.

Yet he still walked out invictus, reliving the true spirit of Imran Khan’s Cornered Tiger, never giving up, refusing to go down and fighting till the last breath.

This is how we know Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Cricket Warrior born and sharpened on the tough and rugged streets of Karachi. A proud graduate of Rashid Latif’s School of wicket-keeping techniques and mental strength.

But for anyone arguing that his performance was just a one off spectacular, needs to revisit his battle-hardened attitude in whatever little chances that came his way.

At the 2012 Asia Cup final in Mirpur, he top scored with a commanding 69 ball 46, including the crucial 13 in the final over that helped Pakistan overcome a spirited fight from Bangladesh.

Being dumped in and out like an extra luggage piece, it was the year 2014 that gave Sarfaraz a decent run and the Braveheart responded by maturing into a genuine match-winner.

He is the first Pakistani wicketkeeper to score three hundreds in one year.

But let’s not forget that he is first a keeper and then anything else. In an era when Pakistan Cricket has been hostage to the slips and misses of the Umar Akmal Trilogy, its Sarfaraz’s dependable glove work that has proved to be a safe haven for Pakistani bowlers.

Had he not been replaced, just imagine the mess Akmal would have made off Hashim Amla’s nudge.

Like countless sad stories of dumping and nepotism in Pakistan Cricket, Sarfaraz is no stranger to hardships and baseless criticism.

Often sidelined for unexplained reasons, the street fighter has the habit of crawling his way back through some stellar performances.

Some circles scared of his skills and leadership qualities have discouraged and deliberately tried to keep him out of the team.

During a recent tour, his visa was purposely delayed and a fellow keeper kept on telling him that he will be replacing Sarfaraz on the tour. Sarfaraz eventually went on the tour, though he was dropped soon afterwards without given right opportunities.

Right after the 2012 Asia Cup, he was dubbed as “Not a good enough batsman” and was dropped from the next outing.

A further shock came with him not being awarded the Central Contract.

Expecting Better from a Coach

Let’s admit it, Sarfaraz proved the Think Tank completely wrong.

In another setting, the Coach or captain would have erupted with joy and shower laurels on his young gun, but remember this is Team Pakistan, where personal egos have always been much larger than the game.

There was no point in Waqar walking alone for the press conference; honestly, he hadn’t done much to deserve a chat with the media about this feat (he puts Misbah to the cannons whenever the team loses).

His only right move was to let Sarfaraz play, but only after facing ruthless criticism and shouldering some scratchy performances from his beloveds.

Rather, it was Sarfaraz’s day, he had earned it. It was he who deserved to pose a winning smile for the cameras. It was his feelings and experience that were of interest to fans and media scribes around the world.

Sadly, he was deprived of the opportunity and Waqar engineered an unnecessary controversy.

Interestingly, Waqar has time and again accused Wasim Akram of sabotaging his carrier. It’s strange to see him handing the same treatment to the young and controversy free Sarfaraz.

Waqar needs to realise that like a boomerang thrown correctly, a deserving player will only bring back the laurels to him.

Hopefully, things will change for Sarfaraz now.

He has shown his toughness and lethality and expectations would be high from him, but as the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

The fear of failure and being dropped again would keep pushing him for more and each winning performance would be a question for his coach, if he had done enough?