Iftikhar Ahmed: “I had a contract in the T10 league but I cancelled it to play here in domestic cricket. I have played for Pakistan after playing domestic cricket, and playing for Pakistan is what has earned me respect”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Power-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed revealed that he decided to cancel his contract to play for the Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 league since he felt it was more important to play domestic cricket in Pakistan.
Iftikhar opted to feature in the National T20 Cup and did extremely well as he was the fifth-highest run-scorer with 395 runs in 12 matches for Peshawar Region, which included four fifties, at an average of 98.75 and a strike-rate of 163.90.
The 33-year-old was also the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 18 wickets at an average of 15.05 and an economy rate of 6.15.
“I had a contract in the T10 league but I cancelled it to play here in domestic cricket. I have played for Pakistan after playing domestic cricket, and playing for Pakistan is what has earned me respect, so as a player and a professional, I should also pay respect to domestic cricketers and Pakistan (by playing here),” Iftikhar was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Iftikhar is not part of Pakistan’s squad for the ongoing three-match Test series against Australia.
The men in green lost the first Test in Perth by 360 runs and will look to bounce back in the second Test, which starts on December 26 in Melbourne.
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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