Azhar Ali to lose ODI captaincy, Inzamam-ul-Haq insists on Sarfraz Ahmed as successor

Karachi: Pakistan's senior batsman Azhar Ali is set to lose his captaincy in ODIs but will be appointed as captain of the Test team after the retirement of veteran Misbah-ul-Haq.

According to insiders aware of ongoing developments in the Pakistan Cricket Board, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has advised the chairman of the PCB Shaharyar Khan to appoint wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain of the ODI side for the tour to West Indies in March-April.

"Inzamam has tried to convince the PCB Chairman and other high officials off some radical changes required in the national team set-up after the disastrous tour to Australia," one well-informed source told PTI.

He said it had been decided that the PCB Chairman and the chief selector would be having a talk with both Misbah and senior batsman, Younis Khan soon to let them know about the board's future plans.

"It has been decided in principle that Misbah would be advised to under take the test tour to West Indies as captain and announce his retirement and go out gracefully while Younis would also be advised to call it a day after he completes his 10,000 test runs probably in the three tests in the West Indies," another source said.

He said it had been decided in principle that after the West Indies tour, Azhar would take over as test captain.

"But Sarfaraz will be appointed as the captain of the one-day squad before the west indies tour in addition to his responsibility as captain of the national T20 side.