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Iftikhar Ahmed and MS Dhoni (Image Source: Twitter)
On 11 October 2022, Pakistan took on New Zealand in the ongoing T20I tri-series in Christchurch. In the previous meeting, the Men in Green won the match against the Kiwis. Therefore, the home team were looking to do well this time around. However, the match went in favour of the Kiwis.
They managed to defeat Pakistan with ease by nine wickets. Pakistan's batters failed miserably in the match. Especially their middle-order batters. Hence, former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal criticised those middle-order batters based on their efforts. He even compared Iftikhar Ahmed with former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni which made the video viral.
Here is the shared video:
“Iftikhar MS Dhoni ki tarah khel raha hai par end me vo nahi kar paata” - Saeed Ajmal on Iftikhar Ahmed
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ajmal said that Iftikhar Ahmed played like MS Dhoni. But, he has been failing to give the finishing touch like MS Dhoni. He said: Iftikhar plays like MS Dhoni but couldn't end the innings like MS used to. (MS) used to take singles and hit sixes toward the end to compensate for them. Here, Iftikhar plays 10 dot balls, Shan Masood plays 5-7 dot balls, and when they try to recover by hitting big shots, they get out.”
He even added that Iftikhar Ahmed scored runs at a strike rate of 100. Then, he got out in the last over as it did not result in any good for the team. Ajmal said: “Iftikhar scored 27 runs off as many balls and he got out in the last over. Where do you stand?” Speaking of the match, Pakistan won the match and they elected to bat first. But, they scored only 130 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs.
Iftikhar Ahmed scored 27 runs off 27 balls, including three fours. In reply, the Kiwis managed to chase it down in just 16.1 overs. Finn Allen scored 62 runs off 42 balls, including one four and six huge over-boundaries. Michael Bracewell won the player of the match award for his impressive bowling spell. He took two wickets for 11 runs in four overs.