Mohammad Wasim: “They sidelined Iftikhar Ahmed just because of one misfield as if the others were fielding like Jonty Rhodes. Whoever they want to keep in the team, they just make an excuse for it”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former chief selector Mohammad Wasim has accused Pakistan of sidelining power-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed “just because of one misfield”.
Iftikhar has become one of the pillars of Pakistan’s middle order as he provides exceptional firepower and has, on occasions, played match-winning knocks.
However, the 33-year-old from Peshawar was strangely underused in the 2024 T20 World Cup as he only featured in two matches and scored 23 runs at an average of 11.50 and a strike-rate of 100.
According to Wasim, the team management did this due to Iftikhar’s fielding.
“They sidelined Iftikhar Ahmed just because of one misfield as if the others were fielding like Jonty Rhodes. Whoever they want to keep in the team, they just make an excuse for it,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India in the T20 World Cup before fighting back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Even though they triumphed in those two games, the men in green failed to progress to the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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