Shahid Afridi: “I expect Iftikhar Ahmad to play a similar role for our team, he definitely has the capability to do so”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi wants big-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed to become Pakistan’s Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell, who plays for Australia, had a number of jaw-dropping performances during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
He smashed the fastest hundred in World Cup history against the Netherlands, taking just 40 balls to achieve the milestone.
Following this, he single-handedly ripped Afghanistan apart to lead Australia to a come-from-behind win.
In the match, Maxwell left everyone in awe of his power-hitting as he smashed a career-best 201 not out, which came off 128 deliveries and included 21 boundaries and 10 sixes.
Afridi now wants Iftikhar to replicate these types of performances as he believes the 33-year-old from Peshawar is the best man for the job.
“What an innings by Glenn Maxwell… its a showcase of top-class power-hitting, well deserved win for Australia! I expect Iftikhar Ahmad to play a similar role for our team, he definitely has the capability to do so,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In the World Cup, Iftikhar scored 142 runs in nine matches at an average of 23.66.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four straight defeats to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they missed out on the semi-finals.,
To add insult to injury, the men in green lost their last group stage match against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan will now play a three-match Test series against Australia, but Iftikhar was not included in the 18-man squad that was announced.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will start on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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Lala koi to baat aqel ki karo,iftikhar ko world cup main deekh liya ,us ko bolo ab izat say retire ho jaiy
Riaz is 200 percent correct.