Watch: Iftikhar Ahmed calls himself a tailender, video goes viral

Pakistan cricketer, Iftikhar Ahmed’s form has hit rock bottom in international cricket. The veteran is known to make a comeback after every drop from the team and has not lived up to his power-hitter role lately. His inability to score against Saurabh Netravalkar in the USA’s famous Super Over win in T20 World Cup 2024 added fuel to the fire. Ahead of Pakistan’s domestic league, Champions One-Day Cup in Faisalabad, he has termed himself a ‘tailender.’

Pakistan Cricket Board has renamed its 50-over domestic tournament as the Champions One-Day Cup with five teams vying for glory. Iftikhar is named in the Wolves squad captained by Mohammad Rizwan. In the team that boasts players like, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, and Salman Ali Agha, the all-rounder has self-acclaimed neither as an all-rounder nor middle order or lower-order batter.

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"I am not a middle order batter, I am a lower order batter. I am not an all-rounder, I am a tailender. If you see, I bat at No.7 or 8. And if you look at the all-rounders and middle-order batters around the world, you'd see they bat at No.4 or 5. But I play at No.7 and 8 and I think of myself as a tailender," said Iftikhar as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

The right-handed batter has batted 55 times in 66 T20Is. He has batted 25 times at No.5, 11 at No.7, 10 at No.6, and other positions including No.4 and No.8. To add further, he has batted in 24 innings in 28 ODIs. In those 24 innings, he has batted at No.6, 16 times. His brief career of four Tests has seen him bat in six innings, predominantly at No.6, and at No.7 only once.