Iftikhar Ahmed: “Personally, I play with a bit of aggression. Shaheen is our junior, there’s nothing like that with him. Now he’s even the captain of Pakistan, so it’s tough to stare at him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan big-hitting batsman Iftikhar Ahmed admitted that it was “tough to stare” at T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi when they were involved in an altercation during the ongoing 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Iftikhar is playing for the Multan Sultans, who have advanced to the playoffs, while Afridi was captaining the Lahore Qalandars, who were the defending champions but finished in last place on the points table after winning just one out of the 10 matches they played.
While the 33-year-old played down the severity of the face-to-face clash with Afridi, he acknowledged that it was tough for him to go through the experience since the left-arm fast bowler is only 23 years old.
“Personally, I play with a bit of aggression. Shaheen is our junior, there’s nothing like that with him. Now he’s even the captain of Pakistan, so it’s tough to stare at him,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In the 1o games he has played for the Sultans, Iftikhar has amassed 205 runs, which includes a top score of 60 not out, at an average of 51.25 and a strike-rate of 193.39.
As for Afridi, he took 14 wickets in nine matches at an average of 22.14 and an economy rate of 8.61.
Iftikhar and the Sultans will now face the Peshawar Zalmi in the Qualifier on March 14.
Multan Sultans Squad for PSL 9:Â Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Iftikhar Ahmed, David Willey, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Dawid Malan, Abbas Afridi, Reeza Hendricks, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Khan, Mohammad Ali, Faisal Akram, Yasir Khan, Chris Jordan, Aftab Ibrahim, Johnson Charles, Mohammad Shehzad
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9:Â Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas