Will miss Sarfaraz Ahmed a lot, says Babar Azam with Pak on cusp of new era.

SYDNEY -- Ahead of his first-ever outing as Pakistan's new T20I captain, Babar Azam on Saturday said that he would miss his predecessor and recently sacked skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed "a lot" in the series against Australia. The 25-year-old Azam took over the T20I reins from Sarfaraz earlier this month after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to remove the Karachi native due to his failing level of performances. On the eve of Pakistan's first assignment in the postSarfaraz era, Azam paid a tribute to the man he replaced in the leadership role.

"Of course, we would miss him a lot," he said at a press conference in Sydney on the even of the first T20I between Pakistan and Australia. "Sarfaraz's services for Pakistan are immeasurable. He made the team number one [in the world] and I hope to build on this." He dismissed the notion that his inexperience as a captain and the need to juggle batting with leadership would be a problem. "When I will be batting, I will only focus on piling up the runs but when I will be on the field, I will then step into my role as captain and lead the...