Pakistani batsman Iftikhar Ahmed has been one of the most important players for his team currently. Ahmed comes out to bat in the middle order and has the ability to finish his team’s matches by making quick runs. However, Iftikhar’s performance in the last few matches has not been promising for Pakistan, but during the recent Sindh Premier League match, he performed well and helped his team win the match.
Iftikhar Ahmed, who is currently a part of the Sindh Premier League 2024 in Pakistan, opened up on the failure of the Pakistan cricket team at the international level right now. Iftikhar claimed that the entire team is responsible for the team’s poor performance and not Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. He openly admitted that Babar and Rizwan’s slow batting puts the team under pressure, but denied putting all the blame on the aforementioned players.
He said: “You are absolutely right, the burden is on us when the required running speed reaches 13, 14 or 15, but it is not the fault of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. In this I think we will play well as a team, and do we blame even the little things on Babar and Rizwan? They are world-class players on our team and we must respect them together. Both have been number 1 in the world and both are number 1 in the world but things happen when more races are demanded. “Me and the team are also responsible for this, not just Babar and Rizwan.”
Watch: Iftikhar Ahmed blames team for Pakistan’s poor form
Here is @IftiMania coinciding with @babarazam258 and @iMRizwanPak, there is pressure from RRR on the last batsmen but that is why they say that all the fault is not theirs 👇👇#BabarAzam #Rizwan pic.twitter.com/rqFvg5r6j5
– muzamilasif (@muzamilasif4) February 4, 2024
The Pakistan cricket team faced a 3-0 defeat against Australia in the Test series, while they also lost against New Zealand in the five-match T20I series 4-1. During the T20I series, Iftikhar Ahmed failed with the bat but could be effective with the ball. Iftikhar took 3 wickets in the 5th T20I and played an important role in the team’s victory.
Pakistan cricket team is currently going through one of the most pathetic phases in international cricket. Right now, there is also a lot of instability in the Pakistan Cricket Board. Since current manager Mohammad Hafeez is not expected to continue as team manager, the team needs to focus on many issues.
The year 2023 was a terrible year for Pakistan as they lost to low-ranked teams like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe while they also showed horrible performance in Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023. They also lost the rights of organization of the 2023 Asia Cup.
On the other hand, many important tournaments such as T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and World Test Championship will be held in the future. The Pakistan team faced a disappointing exit from the ODI World Cup 2023 and finished fifth in the tournament with 4 wins and 5 losses. The Pakistani team will want to focus on their problems and perform well in the upcoming ICC tournaments.