Mohammad Hafeez: “These two are the best performers in Pakistan’s middle order that you have”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Hafeez, the former all-rounder, said Iftikhar Ahmed and Saud Shakeel are the two best-performing middle order batsmen that Pakistan have.
He noted that both players should be in the ODI squad right now as the men in green should be taking full advantage of their sublime form.
Iftikhar recently featured in two ODIs against New Zealand and accumulated 122 runs, which included a top score of 94 not out, at an average of 122 and a strike-rate of 129.78.
As for Shakeel, he has played five ODIs to date, with the last one coming against Australia in March 2022.
“These two are the best performers in Pakistan’s middle order that you have,” Hafeez was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Iftikhar wasn’t picked for Pakistan’s recent two-Test series against Sri Lanka, but Shakeel was named Man of the Match in the first Test in Galle as he led the men in green to a four-wicket win courtesy of his career-best knock of 208 not out.
Overall, Shakeel made 295 runs in the two-Test series at an average of 147.50.
Thanks to his extraordinary performance, Pakistan ended up winning 2-0.