240.90 – Glenn Maxwell’s strike rate against the Netherlands in yesterday’s match. He played an innings of 106 runs off 44 balls. In 40 balls, he scored a century, setting a new record for the fastest century in World Cups. Pakistan’s former all-rounder Shahid Afridi is also watching someone like a ‘Maxwell’ for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s World Cup campaign hasn’t been smooth. Despite winning the first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, they faced defeats in the next three matches against India, Australia, and Afghanistan. In the last match, Pakistan managed to score only 282 runs against Afghanistan, which was easily chased down by Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
After that, there has been a lot of criticism of Babar Azam’s defensive skills. In that match, opener Abdullah Shafique scored 58 runs off 75 balls, and Babar managed 74 runs off 92 balls, which has led to criticism from former Pakistani cricketers.
Afridi has high hopes for Iftikhar Ahmed. He wrote on social media, ‘A fantastic display of power-hitting (Maxwell’s innings). I want Iftikhar to play the same role for us. He certainly has the capability, and the pitches are tailor-made for power hitting. Everyone needs to rise to the occasion.’
In the current World Cup, Iftikhar has batted in five innings so far. He played effective innings against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, scoring 22 off 10 balls and 4 off 26 balls, respectively. However, he is yet to score a century in the tournament.
Tomorrow, Pakistan will play their next match against South Africa, hoping to win and keep their semifinal dreams alive. South Africa defeated Bangladesh with a huge margin of 149 runs in their last match.
