Former Pakistan First-Class Cricketer Zafar Sarfaraz Dies Of COVID-19

Former Pakistan first-class cricketer Zafar Sarfaraz has died at the age of 50. The cricketer, who was the brother of Pakistan international player Akhtar Sarfraz had tested positive for COVID-19. ESPNCricinfo has reported that Zafar Sarfaraz had been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Peshawar for the last three days.

He has now become the first professional cricketer to succumb to COVID-19 in the country. Sarfaraz made his cricket debut in 1988. He proved his mettle by scoring 616 runs from 15 first-class games for Peshawar. In addition, he also collected 96 runs in six one day games before taking a retirement in 1994. He had since taken up the mantle as the coach of Under-19 Peshawar teams in the mid-2000s.

Zafar Sarfaraz is the brother of former Pakistan international player Akhtar Sarfraz. Akhtar passed away due to colon cancer at the age of 43 last year. He represented Pakistan in 4 ODI matches during his international career before his untimely demise.

Pakistan is currently in a state of lockdown due to the growing coronavirus pandemic. The number of coronavirus infected cases in the country has reached 5,374. These include 2,826 cases in Punjab, 1,452 in Sindh, 800 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 231 in Balochistan, and 233 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Since the outbreak hit, 93 patients have succumbed to the coronavirus in Pakistan with 1,095 patients recovering. Meanwhile, coronavirus continues its rampant spread worldwide. The worldwide death toll from the pandemic has risen to 117,000. In addition, there have been more than one point eight million declared cases registered in over 190 countries and territories.

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