Salman Butt pinpoints issues with Iftikhar Ahmed's performance in T20 World Cup 2024

Former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt has highlighted concerns regarding the performance of middle-order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, hosted in the United States and the West Indies.

Having represented Pakistan in 66 T20Is and amassed 998 runs with a batting average of 24.34 and a strike rate of 129.10, Iftikhar's struggles in the current tournament have caught Butt's attention. With only 23 runs scored in two matches so far, Butt expressed doubts about Iftikhar's reflexes, attributing them to his age and fitness level.

Speaking on YouTube channel, Butt emphasized the importance of top fitness levels, particularly at an advanced age in professional cricket. He noted that Iftikhar's extensive experience, spanning from his debut in 2016 to the present, might have contributed to a decline in his agility and speed on the field.

“Iftikhar, I don’t know maybe there is definitely something to do with the reflexes because at his age, you have to be super fit or otherwise your movements, they get slow. He is not a very young chap, he is quite an experienced player,” Butt said.

“He has been playing cricket for a long time, he has played domestic for so long. He made his debut for Pakistan in 2016 and it is 2024 now. So maybe his fitness and time, as he has spent a lot of time [playing cricket], things have gone slower for him and there are very limited options,” he further added.

Butt further elaborated on Iftikhar's batting style, pointing out that while he was originally a middle-order batsman throughout his domestic career, he now finds himself batting in the final overs of the innings.

"He was a proper batsman who used to play at middle-order but now he comes to bat when there are just three to four overs left and he only has one movement, he goes deep into the crease and wants to hit every shot on the leg side or maybe straight," he further added.

Highlighting Iftikhar's tendency to favor shots on the leg side or straight down the ground, Butt suggested that bowlers have caught on to his strategy.

"His arc towards the off stump is very limited and I think that the teams have picked that. The way he stands, his options are already limited and as soon as he does his initial movements, as a bowler you’d know where you have to bowl him," he concluded.