Early career One Day International Sarfaraz's notable achievement during the early days of his career was winning the
ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006 where he led the
Pakistani team and defeated India in the final in a low-scoring encounter. Sarfaraz was called up by
Pakistan as a cover for
Kamran Akmal who had a finger injury in the one-day series against
India in November 2007. He made his
ODI debut in the final match of the series, on 18 November 2007. He didn't get a chance to bat as Pakistan had won the match before he was needed to bat. In 2008, Sarfaraz was selected ahead of
Kamran Akmal for the
Asia Cup. In 2015, Sarfaraz was selected for
2015 Cricket World Cup but did not get a chance to play in the first four matches. Due to the first frequent losses, he was selected for Pakistan's fifth match of the event against
South Africa where he scored 49 runs off 49 balls and took 6 catches as a
wicket-keeper and equalled the ODI record for most dismissals (6 dismissals). Also, he equalled
Adam Gilchrist's record for the most dismissals as a wicketkeeper in a single World Cup innings (6) He was rewarded with the 'Man of the Match' award. In his second match in the world cup, he scored 101* against
Ireland and he was again named the Man of the Match. That win gave
Pakistan a spot in the Quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Test He made his
Test match debut in
Hobart on 14 January 2010, in the
third Test match against
Australia, replacing Kamran Akmal who suffered an "error-ridden performance" in the second Test. He was dropped again after one match.
Return to international cricket (2011) Sarfaraz returned to the international team for the
ODI series against Sri Lanka in November 2011 and for the subsequent series against Bangladesh and the Asia Cup. In the final of the tournament he scored a crucial 46 not out (the highest score from his team) as Pakistan won the match by 2 runs. He was consequently rewarded a Category C contract and selected for Pakistan's next series against Sri Lanka, again for T20Is.
Vice-captaincy After
Misbah retired from the ODI format of the game after the
2015 Cricket World Cup, Sarfraz was emerging to be a potential successor. However, the
PCB went with
Azhar Ali for the captaincy and considering Sarfaraz's leadership in the Pakistan U-19 team, appointed him as the vice-captain of the ODI team.
Sri Lanka Test series (2015) During the first Test against
Sri Lanka at
Galle, Sarfaraz stabilized the Pakistan's innings with a knock of 96 runs in just 85 balls, falling just four runs short of a century when he was bowled by Sri Lankan pacer
Dhammika Prasad. During his knock, he became the 7th Pakistani wicketkeeper to reach 1000 Test runs, in 28 inns, jointly the fastest Pakistani wicket-keeper with
Imtiaz Ahmed. That knock also earned him the Man of the Match award. Sarfaraz was dropped from the T20 series that followed the Test series against Sri Lanka. Many fans back home were shocked and started to raise questions. Pakistani coach
Waqar Younis said on 6 August that Sarfraz is a key Pakistani player and he should be the next T20 captain of Pakistan.
Zimbabwe ODI series (2015) Due to a foot injury sustained by usual ODI captain Azhar Ali, Sarfaraz became the captain for the
third ODI against Zimbabwe on 5 October 2015. He recorded first win in his debut match as a captain.
Captaincy T20I captaincy After a horrendous
2016 T20 World Cup campaign, the T20I captain
Shahid Afridi resigned and the
PCB appointed Sarfaraz as the captain of the national T20 team on 5 April 2016. He won his first match in the only T20I against England by nine wickets. Later, in a 3-match series, his team whitewashed the
2016 ICC World Twenty20's champion, West Indies. Pakistan ranked Number 1 in
ICC rankings for T20 Internationals in late 2018. Under his captaincy, Pakistan won 11 consecutive T20 series. The teams included West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, England & Zimbabwe against which Pakistan won the series. Pakistan also white-washed the opponent in a bilateral series on 5 occasions under his captaincy.
ODI captaincy On 9 February 2017 following the resignation of then captain
Azhar Ali from ODI captaincy, Sarfaraz Ahmed was chosen to succeed him. He became the full-time limited overs captain of Pakistan. He also became the vice-captain for Pakistan's Test team. In his first series as an ODI captain, Pakistan beat West Indies by 2–1. His first major tournament as a captain was the
2017 ICC Champions Trophy. In the pool matches, Pakistan lost to India, but went on to win against South Africa and Sri Lanka to enter semi-finals. In the semi-final, Pakistan beat the host England comprehensively to enter Pakistan's first Champions Trophy final. In the final against arch-rivals India, Pakistan scored 338 batting first and won the match convincingly by 180 runs to become the champions. He was also named the captain and wicket keeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' at the 2017 Champions Trophy by the ICC and Cricinfo.
Test captaincy On 28 September 2017,
against Sri Lanka, he became the
32nd captain of Pakistan in Tests. Sri Lanka won the Test series by 2–0. It was Pakistan's first
whitewash defeat in the United Arab Emirates, and only the second whitewash in a home series after losing to
Australia in October 2002.
Suspension, dropped as captain In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the
Pakistan Cricket Board. In January 2019, during the second ODI of the series
against South Africa, Sarfaraz was caught on the
stump mics using a racial slur towards
Andile Phehlukwayo. He played in the third ODI match, but was then suspended by the
International Cricket Council (ICC) for the next four matches, missing the last two ODIs and the first two T20Is of the tour.
Shoaib Malik captained the Pakistan team in Sarfaraz's absence. The following month, the PCB confirmed Sarfaraz as the team's captain, and stated he would lead the squad at the
2019 Cricket World Cup. In April 2019, he was named as the captain of
Pakistan's squad for the
2019 Cricket World Cup. Under his captaincy, Pakistan managed to win five out of their nine matches, losing three and one no result. Pakistan couldn't qualify for the semi-finals as their net run rate was less than New Zealand's. In October 2019, ahead of Pakistan's
tour to Australia, Sarfaraz was sacked as captain of Pakistan's team, following Pakistan's poor run of form.
Azhar Ali and
Babar Azam were named as the captains of the Test and T20I squads respectively. Under his leadership, Pakistan won 29 of their matches out of 37 and reached No.1 Spot in the T20I ranking. In ODIs and under his leadership,
Pakistan played 50 matches out of which they won 28 matches, lost 20 matches and had a winning rate of 58.33. In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's
tour to England during the
COVID-19 pandemic. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England but he was overlooked and did not play a single test. ==Domestic and franchise cricket==