Pakistan batsman Iftikhar Ahmed: “I am not a middle order batter, I am a lower order batter. I am not an all-rounder, I am a tailender. If you see, I bat at No. 7 or 8. And if you look at the all-rounders and middle order batters around the world, you’d see they bat at No. 4 or 5”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan big-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed has surprisingly said that he considers himself to be a tailender rather than a middle order batsman.
Iftikhar noted that he generally bats at number seven or eight, which is not considered to be the middle order.
Additionally, the 34-year-old from Peshawar also feels he shouldn’t be classified as an all-rounder, even though the men in green utilise his spin bowling on a part-time basis in ODIs and T20Is.
“I am not a middle order batter, I am a lower order batter. I am not an all-rounder, I am a tailender. If you see, I bat at No. 7 or 8. And if you look at the all-rounders and middle order batters around the world, you’d see they bat at No. 4 or 5. But I play at No. 7 and 8 and I think of myself as a tailender,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Iftikhar was not part of Pakistan’s squad for their two-Test series against Bangladesh, which they surprisingly lost 2-0.
He is now playing for the Markhors in the Champions One-Day Cup, which is a domestic 50-over competition being held in Faisalabad.
In five matches, he has accumulated 190 runs, which includes two fifties, at an average of 47.50.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-Test series against England, which will take place from October 7 to 28 in Multan and Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 1st Test against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi.
[TS_Poll id=”69″]