Sarfraz Ahmed waiting for Pakistan Cricket Board decision on captaincy

The wicket-keeper batsman will not stand down after the 1992 winners failed to reach the semi-finals and bemoaned bad luck for their troubles

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed will leave his future as captain to his country's cricket authorities and has effectively refused to stand down.

Despite winning their last four games and finishing level on 10 points with fourth-place New Zealand the 1992 winners missed out on a semi-final on net run-rate.

The failure to qualify from the 10-team group has led to speculation the 32-year-old could be replaced as leader of the team.

But Sarfraz insisted: "It's not that I'm saying I refuse to resign. 

"All I'm saying is the decision rests with the PCB, the same way as the decision to appoint me captain was taken by them. 

"I'm sure they'll take the decision that's best for Pakistan."

Central to Pakistan's failure to finish above the Kiwis was an opening round thumping by West Indies at Trent Bridge, when they were rolled for 105 and lost by seven wickets.

After recovering to shock England they suffered a wash-out in a winnable clash with Sri Lanka before successive harrowing defeats to Australia and India.

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Despite four straight wins to end the competition, it was not enough to qualify leaving Sarfraz to bemoan the team's bad fortune.

"We couldn't do well against the West Indies in our tournament opener, but gained momentum by beating England, the home team and the favourites," Sarfaraz added. 

"Because of the delay in our next match due to a washout against Sri Lanka, we had lost that momentum and it reflected in our performances against Australia and India.

"There's always criticism when you play poorly, and we did play poorly initially. A lot of things happened after the India game that hurt the players deeply. We were distressed by that defeat like every fan. It was really difficult for us to cope with the things that happened in the next seven days. 

"Some of the former players, who were commentating, were present there and provided us support and backing. I called up a meeting comprising just the 15 players in the squad and discussed what mistakes we might be making. The team responded really well, and everyone gave their honest opinions, and we bounced back and won the final four games."

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