Watch: Iftikhar Ahmed admits Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan's slow batting puts Pakistan under pressure

Pakistani batsman Iftikhar Ahmed has been one of the most important players of his side in the present time. Ahmed comes out to bat in the middle order and has the ability to finish off matches for his team by hitting quick runs. However, Iftikhar’s performance in the last few games has not been promising for Pakistan, but during the recent match of the Sindh Premier League, he performed well and helped his side win the match.

Iftikhar Ahmed, who is currently part of the Sindh Premier League 2024 in Pakistan, opened up on the Pakistan cricket team’s flop show in international at the current time. Iftikhar stated that the whole team is responsible for the team’s poor performance rather than Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. He openly admitted that the slow batting of Babar and Rizwan puts the team under pressure but he denied putting the entire blame on the aforementioned players.

He said, “You are absolutely right, the burden falls on us when the required run rate 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 small things on Babar and Rizwan? They are world-class players of our team and we should respect them together. Both of them have been world number 1 and they both are world number 1 but things happen when runs are required more. I and the team are also responsible for this, not just Babar and Rizwan.”

Watch: Iftikhar Ahmed blames team for Pakistan’s poor form

Here’s @IftiMania agreeing kai @babarazam258 aur @iMRizwanPak kai sath batting se neeche walo par RRR ka pressure ata hai par woh yeah bhy kehte hain kai sara qasoor inka nahi hai 👇👇#BabarAzam #Rizwan pic.twitter.com/rqFvg5r6j5

— muzamilasif (@muzamilasif4) February 4, 2024

Pakistan cricket team faced a 3-0 loss against Australia in the Test series whereas they also lost against New Zealand in the five-match T20I series by 4-1. During the T20I series, Iftikhar Ahmed was a flop with the bat but was able to prove effective with the ball. Iftikhar picked up 3 wickets in the fifth T20I and played an important role in the team’s win.

The Pakistan cricket team in the current time is going through one of the most pathetic phases of international cricket. At the current time, there is also a lot of instability in the Pakistan Cricket Board. With the current director Mohammad Hafeez, not expected to continue as the director of the team, the team needs to focus on a lot of problems.

The year 2023 was a terrible year for Pakistan as they lost to low-ranked teams such as Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Zimbabwe whereas, they also showcased a horrible performance in the Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup 2023. They also lost the hosting rights of the Asia Cup 2023.

On the other hand, there are many big tournaments such as the T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy, and the World Test Championship coming up in the future time. The Pakistani 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 issues and perform well in the upcoming ICC tournaments.