Iftikhar Ahmed: “A player must perform in domestic cricket if he wants to replace Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan or anyone in [the] Pakistan cricket team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan big-hitting batsman Iftikhar Ahmed said the only way cricketers can replace superstars like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan is to “perform in domestic cricket”.
Azam and Rizwan have Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorers for the past few years, meaning it will be tough for anyone to move ahead of them in the pecking order.
That said, there are many talented players showing off their skills at the domestic level and Iftikhar encouraged them to keep doing well if they want a shot to play international cricket and cement their spot in the national team.
“A player must perform in domestic cricket if he wants to replace Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan or anyone in [the] Pakistan cricket team,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Arfa Feroz Zake on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam and Rizwan both featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, which the men in green lost 2-0.
They then took part in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition held in Faisalabad.
Azam then played in the first Test against England, where he made scores of 30 and 5.
He was rested for the second Test and won’t be part of the playing XI for the third Test.
As for Rizwan, he was selected for the first two Tests and has made 74 runs at an average of 18.50.
The third Test between Pakistan and England gets underway on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England:Â 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.