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[VIDEO] Iftikhar Ahmed : Can Pakistan afford yet another old player in its T20 ranks?

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He looks out of place in a young T20 team (as do Malik and Hafeez but that is a subject for another thread) and as you will see below, becoming a bit of a joke.

Or am I being harsh and he could be our main match-winner for a few more years to come?


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Courtesy Kamran Akmal’s YouTube channel.<br><br>Saeed Ajmal: "Haider Ali MashaAllah is a youngster, but Iftikhar Ahmed used to play alongside my elder brother... he may be new to the Pakistan side but he has been playing First Class since 1974" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/pUlTOIZw4Y">pic.twitter.com/pUlTOIZw4Y</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1299730659041259526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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I feel iftikhar deserves his place in the T20 team for now.

In the Australia matches, he looked a class apart from our other batters (exception of Babar ofcourse) and played some dynamic innings at the death, especially against pace. He also provides a decent bowling option as he showed yesterday.

The issue is that it’s clear all three of Malik, Hafeez and Iftikhar should not be in the same team. I think due to the fact that he’s a year or two younger (not 7) and better against pace, Iftikhar should continue to play until he fails.
 
Malik, Hafeez and Iftikhar shouldn't be playing together at least.

At least one of them should be dropped for a youngster.

But going by the trend we'll see the same combination even against Zimbabwe.
 
Iftikhar gets so much hate online, I have never seen such abuse for a player. Read a disgusting tweet yday saying he looks like a child molester after he had dropped a catch. So many abusive jokes/trolls about his face, his age etc & these are same fans who glorify convicted fixers like Amir.

About him being in T20I setup, he deserves to be in the team, he was Pakistan's 2nd best batsman after Babar in Aus and iirc hasn't got to bat after that & much better than Hafeez & Malik
 
He deserves a chance. I don't want to get into the conspiracy theories so I will consider him 29. He showed in Australia that he is one of the few bats we have that can hit it big. Deserves to be in the team over Hafeez who has a woeful T20I record.
 
Why do people hate him? Because of his looks?

Iftikhar Ahmed is our best power hitter after the retirement of Shahid Afridi. He is a strong lad. A must in our T20 squad. He showed this against Australia as their bowlers had no answer to Ifti's aggression.
 
TrentDevil said:
Iftikhar gets so much hate online, I have never seen such abuse for a player. Read a disgusting tweet yday saying he looks like a child molester after he had dropped a catch. So many abusive jokes/trolls about his face, his age etc & these are same fans who glorify convicted fixers like Amir.

About him being in T20I setup, he deserves to be in the team, he was Pakistan's 2nd best batsman after Babar in Aus and iirc hasn't got to bat after that & much better than Hafeez & Malik
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And he is our best power hitter in the squad. Shows you something about our intellect.
 
Let's see how he gets on for the rest of the series, then we can make a more assured assessment to see if Australia was one off or not.
 
I don't think any team can afford three veterans in T20 format. Pakistan should play someone else.
 
He is a terrible fielder however his performance in Australia merits his selection. Hafeez and especially Malik dont deserve to be selected.
 
Seriously playing first class since 1974 that makes him older than waqar, misbah and younis isnt it. Playing alongside saeed ajmals elder brother if thats true assuming he is atleast 18 years in 1974 then now is he 64 years old lol.
 
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Tongue in cheek from Ajmal :)

But it's pretty clear he's around 35.
 
Saj said:
Tongue in cheek from Ajmal :)

But it's pretty clear he's around 35.
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I don't think he's 35. He looks 45 at least.

It's fine, he can stay in the team as long as he performs. But there is a reason why generally oldies don't survive in international cricket. The reflexes and hand-eye coordination go when you're a bit older.
 
sweep_shot said:
I don't think any team can afford three veterans in T20 format. Pakistan should play someone else.
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This is a Misbah team, thankfully it's only 3.

He's definitely not 29 :)) but either way his performances have been fine so far. With the World t20 a year away i think it's feasible to keep him around until then and pick him if he's still doing well.
 
He is generally a safe fielder. That drop was a one off thing. He gets way too much hate online. His performance against Australia merits his selection regardless of how old he is.
 
Hes definetly not 29 lol

Lets see how he performs but hes not a long term addition thats for sure
 
He is useful for our ODI and T20 team. He has the reputation for being a good finisher
 
Currently he is better than malik and hafeez and can be uses as a finisher till 2023 wc
 
Prince of Pakistan said:
Why do people hate him? Because of his looks?

Iftikhar Ahmed is our best power hitter after the retirement of Shahid Afridi. He is a strong lad. A must in our T20 squad. He showed this against Australia as their bowlers had no answer to Ifti's aggression.
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Yes he does get a lot of unnecessary criticism, he has been very good in T20s.

Probably stems from how he got into the Test team. We had Younis and Misbah nearing retirement and Asad and Azhar in their 30s who were supposed to take the role of senior batsmen afterwards. Instead of turning towards a youngster Chacha Ifti was thrust in there and his silly shot in the 3rd Test of the England tour contributed to the loss, also dropped a catch I think. Then he was again put into the test side in Australia if I remember correctly on back of T20I performances.

In T20s the issue is he is playing alongside Malik and Hafeez the two 40 year olds. We can't have all 3 in the team together.
 
Iftikhar is the only oldie that should have been in our T20 squad.

He is a decent lower order hitter.
 
Every player in pakistan has a 3-5 year age difference when it comes to crixket age and real age.

Yet people abuse iftikhar. If anyone talks about naseem not being a 17 yewr old than those people are told to stop assuming or stop talking about his age qnd focus on his bowling..

Iftikhar isnt alone, everyone has forged ages.
 
Put an end to this hate for him. He doesn't have the PR game like Hafeez or Malik. He spent his prime years in domestics and has a great record. He also proved himself in Australia. But because he is not fashionable he will be trolled and if he fails once, he will be dropped and labelled as a age-fraud.
You people deserve frauds like Asif Ali.
 
Nervesofsteel said:
He is generally a safe fielder. That drop was a one off thing. He gets way too much hate online. His performance against Australia merits his selection regardless of how old he is.
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Yes. He might not be super quick but he never drops a catch in outfield.
 
Ifti is much better than Hafeez and Malik combined, especially in SENA.

He can definitely hit big which he has shown Vs Australia and has always proven to be handy with the ball.

Fielding has been the real problem, that is obvious considering his real age. It is the job of captain to give him right place in the field rather than hotspot like slips.
 
His age doesn’t matter as long as he performs and wins matches for us :)
 
Doing ok Iftikhar - giving strike to Hafeez!
 
Since hafeez/malik comeback in t20i team he looks nervous and lost .He is sort of player who will be outstanding in domestic tournament but will always fail in international cricket .Few fluke inning in aus won't take him long in pak team
 
Everytime this guy plays and gets tonked I give a thousand lanats to the person who selected him that is Misbah ul Haq.
 
He's done a stirling job putting the brakes on with Shoaib!!??? Hafeez was accelerating and these bozos stalled!
 
aloo paratha said:
He deserves a chance. I don't want to get into the conspiracy theories so I will consider him 29. He showed in Australia that he is one of the few bats we have that can hit it big. Deserves to be in the team over Hafeez who has a woeful T20I record.
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There's no conspiracy theory here. Most Pakistani players don't have their actual age listed as their official age. Iftikhar is just an extreme example of this practice. He's quite close to 40.
 
Third Man said:
There's no conspiracy theory here. Most Pakistani players don't have their actual age listed as their official age. Iftikhar is just an extreme example of this practice. He's quite close to 40.
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He just looks and fields like a very old man!!. Looks is undue discrimination but this guy moves like a pensioner!!
 
What is it going to take for them to give Haider a shot? Either Malik or Ifti has to make way. Misbah seemed visibly distressed and may decide to give so younger players a shot including Khushdil and Haider.
 
TBF to Ifti, don't think he was out there long enough to criticise this heavily. Yes there were 9 balls but he's no Shahid Afridi.
 
Guy had like 8 balls, still he was run a ball.

And people here want him to be dropped?
 
Time is running out for him even though Misbah likes him and will do his best to keep him in the team

He shouldn't have been given that 3rd over which went for 18 runs. It was a last minute decision as Shadab was going to bowl it initially. Morgan and Malan lined him up and his bottle went.
 
Major said:
Guy had like 8 balls, still he was run a ball.

And people here want him to be dropped?
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This part sums up your grasp of modern day white ball cricket and the sport in general. It was a poor knock.

Yuvraj played a similar one in 2014 WT20 and as a result Sri Lanka were able to chase it down quite comfortably. Later that night his house was stoned.

Luckily for uncle Ifti this was a bilateral played in front of an empty crowd.
 
Saj said:
Time is running out for him even though Misbah likes him and will do his best to keep him in the team

He shouldn't have been given that 3rd over which went for 18 runs. It was a last minute decision as Shadab was going to bowl it initially. Morgan and Malan lined him up and his bottle went.
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Thats more of a fault of Babar.
Iftikhar is a part time bowler not a main bowler. And using part timers upfront and not your main bowlers are a weird tactic by our captain.
 
Iftikhar performed well in Australia so deserves his run. He may not turn out to be a world beater but I don't think he is the major issue with this team.
 
Not sure what kind of thoughts he had in mind when he came out to bat today. He is a good hitter of the ball as he has shown in domestics as well as some T20s and ODIs recently, not sure what was his game plan today where he didnt show much intent as well.
 
Major said:
Thats more of a fault of Babar.
Iftikhar is a part time bowler not a main bowler. And using part timers upfront and not your main bowlers are a weird tactic by our captain.
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Babar was actually going to ball Shadab at that time which could have been a good move but, one senior’s intervention took place and after that we saw Shadab wearing his sweater back and Iftikhar coming onto bowl.
 
Happy Birthday Chacha Iftikhar

EgrRlE7X0AEworO.jpg

​

Iftikhar Ahmed will always give you that look as if you had turned the AC temperature to 16, and he is not happy. You wonder why he gives you the angry uncle vibes.

Our very own Iftikhar turns 30 today. While he has not achieved much as of yet at international level, one hopes that he will make an impact. And why not? He does have the years with him as he just entered the 30s:bumrah. I can already see 10 more years from him until he turns to 40.
 

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Saj said:
Time is running out for him even though Misbah likes him and will do his best to keep him in the team

He shouldn't have been given that 3rd over which went for 18 runs. It was a last minute decision as Shadab was going to bowl it initially. Morgan and Malan lined him up and his bottle went.
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Liabilities like Iftikhar and Misbah need to be sacked ASAP...!!
 
Iftikhar Ahmed - playing in the final of PSL 5

First over gone for plenty.
 
Major said:
EgrRlE7X0AEworO.jpg

​

Iftikhar Ahmed will always give you that look as if you had turned the AC temperature to 16, and he is not happy. You wonder why he gives you the angry uncle vibes.

Our very own Iftikhar turns 30 today. While he has not achieved much as of yet at international level, one hopes that he will make an impact. And why not? He does have the years with him as he just entered the 30s:bumrah. I can already see 10 more years from him until he turns to 40.
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You mean you can see hes actually 10 years older then his given age.

This guy is not turning 30, hes turning 40.
 
Not a great shot Always seems to get out softly and at the wrong moment Usually esrly in his innings
 
In his last 8 matches he scored 113 runs average 16.8 at 89sr and some legend posters think he is best available to serve
 
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