Pakistan reward Sarfraz with Test captaincy after Champions triumph

'Our players are champions material. All the top teams now want to play with us. I tell India to also start playing with us. I challenge them to play with our team.'

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Shaharyar Khan on Tuesday announced ICC Champions Trophy-winning skipper Sarfraz Ahmed as the national team's Test captain.

Speaking to the media at a reception hosted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for members of the victorious team that won the Champions Trophy in England, Khan said there is no one better to lead the Test side than Sarfraz.

"Sarfraz will be the new Test captain as he has shown the leadership qualities in the Champions Trophy," Khan said.

"I am honoured to be appointed Test captain," Sarfraz said during the ceremony.

"I will do my best to lift the team in all three formats and will not rest on Champions Trophy laurels."

Pakistan team's Test captaincy became vacant after the retirement of the long-serving Misbah-ul-Haq at the end of the West Indies tour in May.

Misbah took over the post in 2010 and went on to become the most successful Test captain in Pakistan's cricket history.

Sarfraz has earned the honour of being Pakistan's captain in all three formats of the game.

The diminutive player who is 30 has already appeared in 36 Tests, 75 ODIs and 36 T20 internationals.

Khan said that Pakistan had shown with their performance in the Champions Trophy that they are among the best in the world.

"We beat the top teams of the world to become champions. Our players are champions material. All the top teams now want to play with us. I tell India to also start playing with us. I challenge them to play with our team," Khan said.

Image: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed.

Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images