Pakistan management is reportedly having second thoughts about retaining Sarfraz Ahmed as captain for the 2019 World Cup.

Sarfraz has returned to Pakistan after being suspended for four matches by the ICC for his racial slur directed at South Africa all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo during the Durban ODI.

Shoaib Malik has taken over as captain and now there are murmurs of the hierarchy looking at options other than Sarfraz.

A Cricbuzz report quoted a Pakistan board spokesperson as saying that captaincy will be decided only after the Pakistan Super League which begins in UAE on February 15. Australia play Pakistan in an ODI series in UAE in March while the men in green travel to England in May for an ODI and T20 series before the World Cup.

“We never revealed the length of Sarfraz Ahmed’s tenure,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying. “We never said whether he was going to stay as a captain for one or two years. The PCB appoints captain on a series to series basis, and, as such, appointment for the series post PSL will be made in due course.”

Sarfraz’s troubles started last year with the team’s disastrous performance in the Asia Cup in the UAE where they were thrashed twice by India. Thereafter, Pakistan lost the home Test series to New Zealand 2-1 to go with the 2-0 home defeat to Sri Lanka before that.

A 3-0 hammering in Tests in the ongoing South Africa tour coupled with the racist outburst have put a question mark over Sarfraz’s long-term captaincy prospects.

Interestingly, when Ehsan Mani took over as PCB chairman last year he had stated that Sarfraz will remain captain until the 2019 World Cup.