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[VIDEOS] Iftikhar Ahmed - A potential solid Test batsman?

HappyWarsFan

HappyWarsFan

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For Asian conditions especially tests I feel that if Ifti replace Asad Shafiq and can play the Misbah batting role + bowl useful off skin he could be a really big asset. His FC record is good and he averages 73.33 in 10 inning last season QEA, with 3 tons and 3 fifties.

Batting could be something like Shan,Abid, Azhar, Babar, Haris, Iftikhar. But I am interested in seeing how good he can handle pressure.
 
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Tough assignment to start your test career ! He played one match in England in 2016 and I recall him having a brain fade on the 4th or 5th ball. But he has good stats domestically so deserves a run of 4-5 tests . Number 6 is probably the best position to start for him.
 
It's surprising to see his 27.03 AVG with his bowling in FC.

Pakistan have really lacked a decent part time spinner since Hafeez. Replacing Shafiq for him isn't exactly a tough call.
 
Absolutely! It is about time we reward players who are consistently performing in domestic cricket. He should bat at #6 for the next few test series and be afforded a proper run. As mentioned above, his bowling is a nice bonus.

With Haris, Babar, Iftikhar and Rizwan at 4, 5, 6 and 7 our middle order looks a lot stronger.
 
Of course we should definitely back this youngster who has potentially 10-15 yrs future ahead of him
 
pratiktc said:
Of course we should definitely back this youngster who has potentially 10-15 yrs future ahead of him
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I guess with the test championship around now, they can afford to have a couple of short term players. But since we have 3 tough tours of NZ, AUS and England in the championship, his ability against the pacers will be challenged. I wonder how he plays the pacers. He could be useful in Asia, not so sure about SENA.
 
I want to know how authentic his specified age is first.

I think he's at least 35 and has at most just 18-24 months left in him.
 
Let's see.

He certainly seems more reliable than most of the others.

One thing is for sure, the guy has got guts and is prepared to put in the hard yards.
 
Saj said:
Let's see.

He certainly seems more reliable than most of the others.

One thing is for sure, the guy has got guts and is prepared to put in the hard yards.
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I am really surprised at the fact that he looks decent compared to some of the others. He has something!
 
Bewal Express said:
I am really surprised at the fact that he looks decent compared to some of the others. He has something!
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He's been around domestic cricket for a number of years and he has a lot of experience. He knows that he won't get many more chances if he fails this time around.

He's seen some pretty tough times in his career and thi9s is probably why he has a greater desire to succeed than others.
 
Saj said:
He's been around domestic cricket for a number of years and he has a lot of experience. He knows that he won't get many more chances if he fails this time around.

He's seen some pretty tough times in his career and thi9s is probably why he has a greater desire to succeed than others.
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I am actually surprised that he can "play". It makes you wonder what could have been if we had invested in someone like him rather than some useless mental midgets(AS). I would bat him at 6 in the tests.
 
topspin said:
I want to know how authentic his specified age is first.

I think he's at least 35 and has at most just 18-24 months left in him.
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Judging by his reflexes he is maximum 32. Some people just look a lot older than they are. You have to have good reflexes to play the short ball comforatbly in Austrlia especially when you are a Pakistani Batsman.
 
What about Iftikhar as an opener? Would rather see him take the attack on and bat first instead of Imam or Abid or whatever other openers we have...
 
Sunny_majoka said:
I wonder who will sit out of test team to accommodate him
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In Bribane it should be Shafiq sitting out, at Adelaide it should be whoever the spinner is. Iftikhar should play the spinners role in Adelaide as he can just hold one end and a spinner won't be of much use in a day-nighter anyways.
 
I'm a big believer in the old Duncan Fletcher theory of picking players on character rather than statistics in first-class cricket. Iftikhar has certainly showed a lot of resilience and self-belief under pressure, and deserves to be persisted with as a consequence. Drop Haris or Asad to make way for him in the test team.
 
I am sick of all this conjecture surrounding his age. He claims to be 29 and made his FC debut 8 years ago - at a perfectly typical age of 21. If someone has real evidence bring it forward otherwise stop pretending to know how old he really is.

If Iftikhar was half as well connected as some of the other he would have had 50 opportunities by now. He should play the next few test series at #5 or #6 simply because he deserves to from his performance over the 3 years.
 
Saj said:
He's been around domestic cricket for a number of years and he has a lot of experience. He knows that he won't get many more chances if he fails this time around.

He's seen some pretty tough times in his career and thi9s is probably why he has a greater desire to succeed than others.
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His desire to succeed is phenomenal and an example to the likes of Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad who seem to take comebacks as their God Given rights.
 
Officer Barbrady said:
I am sick of all this conjecture surrounding his age. He claims to be 29 and made his FC debut 8 years ago - at a perfectly typical age of 21. If someone has real evidence bring it forward otherwise stop pretending to know how old he really is.

If Iftikhar was half as well connected as some of the other he would have had 50 opportunities by now. He should play the next few test series at #5 or #6 simply because he deserves to from his performance over the 3 years.
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This. Only sick posts question someone's age.

Anyway one thing is certain under Misbah he'll get a good run. He brought him in the PSL as well.
 
All the best to him , our batting is totally dependent on haris and babar this time around. Azhar and asad are finished , imam looks susceptible against pace and bounce. I am pretty sure though that iftikhar wont play in the first test atleast.

Shan
Imam
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Haris

Will be our top 6.
 
Expectations from Iftikhar Ahmed in the Test series?

What should we expect from Iftikhar in this series?
We are probably getting clean-swept in this series unless a miracle happens. Iftikhar has had to cement his place in test side at a difficult tour. A couple of 50s should be enough and he has to be among the top scorers of Pakistan in the series. An average of 40-45 should do.
 
His FC batting average is decent, even better than Babar Azam, so yeah an average of 35 or above should be acceptable as well on this tour, but should take some wickets too.
 
If ever we are in a dire situation (which is likely), I feel he should be sent in to open or as a one down. He is the only one in the team (other than possibly Babar) that seems to have any wits or courage about him. Rest seem quite clueless.
 
If Pakistan bat first in Adelaide he should play the aggressive role to get us to a good total before declaring at dinner.
 
Danyaalr01 said:
Judging by his reflexes he is maximum 32. Some people just look a lot older than they are. You have to have good reflexes to play the short ball comforatbly in Austrlia especially when you are a Pakistani Batsman.
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Younis Khan had no trouble playing the short ball in his last tour of Australia (including vs Starc) despite being in thee 38-41 age band. A batsman's ability to play the short ball is not a true indicator of their reflexes or them "slowing down" as they say.

In Younis Khan's case, it was the case of struggling severely against lateral movement that made his loss in reflexes apparent. If you cast your mind back to Pakistan's NZ tour, he was so bad against swing and seam that he actually ended up averaging something like 4 runs for the series :stokes

He also struggled in the first innings of the pink ball test during the last test tour of Australia when the ball was moving prodigiously under the lights and who can forget his dancing in England against the swing and seam friendly Duke cherry.

If Iftikhar can prove he can play swing and seam then I am prepared to accept his reflexes are good and that I may have overestimated his age.

I have no issues with him playing T20Is until 2021 WT20 tournament, however I don't think he should be a regular for Tests and ODIs because I stand by the fact that I don't think he has much cricket left in him. With the next World Cup in 2023 and the test match side in need of a cemented group of players, it makes no sense to play him in the two longer formats of the game.
 
I still think Imam should play the tests he is a determined bloke I can see him succeeding
 
Xoib said:
I still think Imam should play the tests he is a determined bloke I can see him succeeding
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His time will come later.
Iftikhar looked great in his short time at the crease and was comfortable with the bounce.
 
topspin said:
Younis Khan had no trouble playing the short ball in his last tour of Australia (including vs Starc) despite being in thee 38-41 age band. A batsman's ability to play the short ball is not a true indicator of their reflexes or them "slowing down" as they say.

In Younis Khan's case, it was the case of struggling severely against lateral movement that made his loss in reflexes apparent. If you cast your mind back to Pakistan's NZ tour, he was so bad against swing and seam that he actually ended up averaging something like 4 runs for the series :stokes

He also struggled in the first innings of the pink ball test during the last test tour of Australia when the ball was moving prodigiously under the lights and who can forget his dancing in England against the swing and seam friendly Duke cherry.

If Iftikhar can prove he can play swing and seam then I am prepared to accept his reflexes are good and that I may have overestimated his age.

I have no issues with him playing T20Is until 2021 WT20 tournament, however I don't think he should be a regular for Tests and ODIs because I stand by the fact that I don't think he has much cricket left in him. With the next World Cup in 2023 and the test match side in need of a cemented group of players, it makes no sense to play him in the two longer formats of the game.
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How can you say he hasn't much cricket left in him? He is just 29. Or are you a fortune teller? Lol. :91:
 
Forget batting - he's just removed Travis Head with his bowling!
 
Mercurial said:
How can you say he hasn't much cricket left in him? He is just 29. Or are you a fortune teller? Lol. :91:
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Thanks for quoting that post. Not surprised. His keyboard keeps generating rubbish.
 
Mercurial said:
How can you say he hasn't much cricket left in him? He is just 29. Or are you a fortune teller? Lol. :91:
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I don't believe he's anywhere near 29 years of age.

Give it 2 - 3 years max and you'll see his reflexes will be gone by then.

We need long-term solutions for the ODI and Test formats.
 
Hawkeye said:
Thanks for quoting that post. Not surprised. His keyboard keeps generating rubbish.
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The only thing you're capable of generating on your keyboard is "Dark Mickey Arthur Era". Just don't go missing from PP when your beloved faces his inevitable fate.
 
Thought he would be another domestic bully but he looks unfazed by the challenge of international cricket. Takes some courage to play like this in Australia. Should've been selected 1 year earlier tho.
 
Impressive with the bat today. Just needs to be judicious against the short ball. Really looks like a younger version of Misbah - plays the ball late but has more shots against the pacers. Good signs
 
Good inning today 79*(99). Played attacking cricket and wasn't bogged down by the short ball.
 
And a bowler as well! Takes 1 wicket in 2-Day practice game
 
Fun-fact - Iftikhar has more wickets on this tour than Pakistan's leading spinner.
 
Certain pick for the 1st Test after some decent innings and a few wickets.
 
Deserves a run in side at number 6, hopefully can provide an attack batting option at that position. His off spin bowling is a bonus.
 
He is better than what I thought he was. Even if Uncle ifti is around 33, he has earnt the right to be in the team
 
Why do we assume that our batsman can’t play beyond a certain age. If your good enough your old enough . Let’s just for argument sake assume he is 32 , if he is performing he can play till 36-37 or beyond .

There have two types of seniors .
1) Malik - hafeez type - hardly ever leading by example and going missing in big matches and tournaments

2) Younis / Misbah- Who in tests even in the twilight of their careers performed generally at a good level .

If ifti can be the latter then he deserves to be in the team .
 
Won't jump to conclusions just yet. He came in under real pressure to score. Post-series we'll get an idea.
 
I hope he doesn't turn out to be one of those batsmen who can't perform in Test matches.

So far his Test record is awful, but they should stick with him for now.
 
He needs to get more innings under his belt to be properly judged. As of now, I like how he bats, how quickly he adapts to the pitches and situation, and best quality is that he doesn't play for selfish innings. He looks confident which is an ideal attribute our players need to win matches.
 
Not even watching yet I knew for certain he was gonna fail. Another great selection from Misbah.
 
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Chief Destroyer said:
Not even watching yet I knew for certain he was gonna fail. Another great selection from Misbah.
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A couple of white ball innings against no slip cordon convinced Wise Misbah that he was a Top Six Test Batsman.

And predictably he lasted 22 balls, out twice for a Grand Total of 7 runs at an average of 3.50.

Congratulations Misbah.
 
Not a great outing at the Gabba.

<iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/huzcf/sdfpwt" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
One more gift from Misbah based on 20-20 performance he is playing test match whereas test players like Imam ul Haq and Abid Ali are sitting out , Misbah is clueless
 
I think Pakistan needed to ease him in, should have played him in t20 and odi for a while. They should have played either Imam or Abid here so that Azhar could bat one-down. But you know.... we have a new coach
 
Not a fan of Ifti but surely we can't conclude on him based on one test match performance. We all know that he was picked because he was our 5th bowler as well, so not a clueless pick at all.
 
sorry to say but how did this guy made into the test squad touring Aus?
 
gazza619 said:
Not a fan of Ifti but surely we can't conclude on him based on one test match performance. We all know that he was picked because he was our 5th bowler as well, so not a clueless pick at all.
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from where does he look like a test player? He has zero defence as a batsman. This is really a pathetic selection.
 
BreadPakoda said:
Those who advocated for his entry into test cricket must do some self introspection.
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those peoole can't differentiate T20 cricket and tests. You can't hack in tests if you don't have technique, defence to wait for bad balls.
 
Honeymoon is getting over pretty fast .Though should not be dropped from next t20 series due to his recent performance
 
He really is a Misbah clone isn’t he? Like the original version, he cannot bat in Australia against the red ball.
 
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