Iftikhar Ahmed was frustrated after media referring him as middle order batter of his role within the Pakistan Cricket Team.
The 34-year-old has frequently changed batting positions in both T20Is and ODIs, referring to himself as a tailender. He has mostly batted on Position No. 05 – 07 in 66 T20Is.
While expressing his thoughts on his role, Iftikhar said, “I am not a middle-order player, I am a lower-order one. Not an all-rounder but a tail-ender because when you see I come out to bat at 7-8. Normal middle-order batters come out at 4 or 5 but I come in at 7 or 8. So I have realized that I am a tail-ender,” said Iftikhar Ahmed.
The 24-year-old has been used in the lower order where his primary role is that of a finisher like Tim David in Australia who is expected to strike big right from ball one.
But it could be that the veteran seems to have been frustrated by his current position within the Pakistan Cricket team.
Iftikhar has faced challenges in this recent form. His maiden century came from a match against Nepal in Asia Cup 2023. Despite his experience, he struggled to find consistency at the international level.
In his T20I career, he scored 998 runs with an average of 24.34 and a strike rate of 129.10 including four half-centuries. Meanwhile, he amassed 614 runs in 28 ODIs with an average of 38.37 with a strike rate of 106.59 with a century and one fifty to his name.
His position within the side is also in doubt after Pakistan suffered a crushing defeat in an ICC tournament as they were eliminated in the group stages of the T20 World Cup 2024.
The test team also witnessed a series defeat 2-0 against Bangladesh at home for the first time in history. Despite the team has been questioned being asked of the management, players, and even the Pakistan Cricket Board, Pakistan hopes to return to the top.
Iftikhar will look to showcase his best performance with both bat and ball as he was named in the Dolphins in the Champions One Day 2024 which is set to be led by Mohammed Rizwan.
