{
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    "title": "Sarfraz appointed Pakistan T20 captain",
    "lang": "en",
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    "cup_year": "2016",
    "article_type": "General",
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    "editor1": "<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lahore, April 5 (Cricketnmore):<\/strong> Wicket-keeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed has replaced Shahid Afridi as the captain of the Pakistan Twenty20 team.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sarfraz, who was appointed vice-captain of Pakistan&#39;s One-Day International (ODI) and T20 teams last year, took over the captaincy of the shortest form of the game after Afridi stepped down following a poor campaign at the World Twenty20 in India.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;I spoke to Sarfraz this morning and conveyed to him that he was our natural choice for this position. His appointment is open-ended. I wish him good luck in his new role,&quot; Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ahmad played in all four of Pakistan&#39;s group matches at the World Twenty20. The men in green lost three of those matches -- including to arch-rivals India -- to crash out of the tournament.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ahmed has a good strike rate of 120.24 in 21 Twenty20 internationals, but was under-utilised by the Pakistan team management at the World T20 as he was used as a lower-order batsman.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The 28-year-old had a succesful stint at the inaugural Pakistan Super League, leading the Quetta Gladiators to the final where they lost to the Misbah-ul-Haq-led Islamabad United.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Afridi welcomed Ahmed&#39;s appointment, congratulating the new captain on social media platform Twitter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;Good decision to see @SarfarazA_54 leading PAK T-20 he is energetic, passionate and a fighter!&quot; Afridi tweeted.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ahmed has a good record in the longer versions of the game as well. He has played 21 Tests, scoring 1,296 runs at a healthy average of 46.28. He has also featured in 58 One-Day Internationals (ODI), in which he has notched up 1,077 runs at an average of 29.91.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pakistan are scheduled play only three T20 Internationals this year, one against World T20 runners-up England and two against newly-crowned world champions West Indies.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Agency.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n",
    "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2016\/04\/sarfraz-ahmed4.jpg",
    "alt_img": "Sarfraz Ahmed Image",
    "alt_title": "Sarfraz Ahmed",
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    "seo_title": "Sarfraz appointed Pakistan T20 captain",
    "seo_desc": "Sarfraz appointed Pakistan T20 captainLahore, April 5 (Cricketnmore): Wicket-keeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed has replaced Shahid Afridi as the captain of the Pakis",
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    "created": "2016-04-05 18:12:00",
    "updated": "2016-04-05 18:12:00",
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