Iftikhar Ahmed: “We should make batting wickets so that teams can make 350-400 and players can improve their strike-rate and prepare for international cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan power-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed wants pitches where teams can score 350 to 400 runs to be prepared in the country.
Explaining the logic behind this, he noted that it will enable players to start scoring faster, which has become vital in international cricket.
Iftikhar admitted that many of the Pakistan batsmen have low strike-rates and in order for that to change, batting wickets that allow for massive scores need to be installed throughout grounds in the nation.
“For one-day cricket, we should have better wickets. At the international level, the world is thinking about 400. Our strike-rate is already low at the international level. We should make batting wickets so that teams can make 350-400 and players can improve their strike-rate and prepare for international cricket. Then players get the confidence to deliver at the international level,” he was quoted as saying by Grassroots Cricket on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Iftikhar recently played for the Markhors in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition held in Faisalabad.
In six games, he amassed 193 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 38.60.
The 34-year-old from Peshawar then represented the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in the President’s Cup Grade-I (1-Day) tournament and accumulated 236 runs in four matches, which included a career-best 154 not out, at an average of 118.
Iftikhar was not selected for Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, which they lost 2-0.
The men in green are now taking on England in a three-match Test series, which is tied at 1-1.
The third Test will start on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.
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