“Iftikhar Ahmed MS Dhoni Ki Tarah Khel Raha Hai Par End Me Vo Nahi Kar Paata Jo MS Karta Tha” – Saeed Ajmal After Pakistan's 9-wicket Loss To New Zealand

Former Pakistan National Cricket Team spinner Saeed Ajmal has said that the 32-year-old middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed plays like the legendary India wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni, but he is unable to finish off the innings like Dhoni used to do.

Pakistan faced a 9-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the ongoing tri-series at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on October 11. Winning the toss and batting first Pakistan were restricted to 130/7. Iftikhar top-scored for the side with 27 runs off 27 balls in the innings.

After the game, former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal slammed the Pakistan batting unit for their awful performance.

“Iftikhar MS Dhoni ki tarah khel raha hai par end me vo nahi kar paata jo MS karta tha ki pehle single le le, aur end pe aake chhakke maarke compensate kar liya. Iftikhar sahab start me 10 ball khaa jaate hain, Shan Masood 5-7 ball pehle aake khaa jaate hain. Saare batters aise hi ball khaate hain, fir recover karne ke liye hit maarte hain aur out hoke bahar chala jaata hai.

“(Iftikhar plays like MS Dhoni but couldn’t end the innings like MS used to. (MS) used to take singles and hit sixes towards 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.),” Ajmal said on his official YouTube channel.

27 ball pe 27 run banaaye hain aur last over me out ho jaate hain – Saeed Ajmal on Iftikhar Ahmed

Ajmal further highlighted that Iftikhar made a slow start to his innings in the game and kept taking singles instead of accelerating and got dismissed at the score of 27 in the last over.

“27 ball pe 27 run banaaye hain aur last over me out ho jaate hain. Aap kidhar stand karte hain? (Iftikhar scored 27 runs off as many balls and he got out in the last over. Where do you stand?),” he further stated.

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