Saeed Ajmal: “Iftikhar plays like MS Dhoni but couldn’t end the innings like MS used to. [MS] used to take singles and hit sixes towards the end to compensate for them”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal said big-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed is trying to play in similar fashion to MS Dhoni, but can’t finish games like the legendary India batsman did.
He pointed out that Dhoni used to take singles early on to build his innings before thumping sixes “to compensate for them”.
Iftikhar, meanwhile, has the power, but can’t get the job done like Dhoni could.
“Iftikhar plays like MS Dhoni but couldn’t end the innings like MS used to. [MS] used to take singles and hit sixes towards the end to compensate for them,” Ajmal said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
In the recent T20 tri-series against New Zealand and Bangladesh, Iftikhar scored 65 runs in five matches at an average of 32.50 and a strike-rate of 132.65.
He will now represent Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
The men in green will kick off their campaign against arch-rivals India on Sunday in Melbourne.
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
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