cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er. He is in playing-eleven in T20 format of
Pakistan National Cricket Team
The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...
. In
Pakistan Super League
The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Paki ...
, he has previously played for
Karachi Kings
Karachi Kings ( ur, ; sd, ڪراچي ڪنگز) (abbreviated as KK) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, P ...
,
Islamabad United
Islamabad United ( ur, ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was the inaugural champion of the Pakistan Super League. The team is based in Islamabad, the capital cit ...
and now is in
Quetta Gladiators
Quetta Gladiators (Urdu, Balochi: ; Pashto: کویټه ګلیډیټرز) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the 27,000-capacity Gaddafi Stadium ...
. He made his international debut for the Pakistan cricket team in November 2015. He was born in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
into a
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
family.
Domestic career
He was the leading run-scorer for
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) ( ur, ) was incorporated as a private limited Company in 1963 and later converted into a public limited company in January 1964 under the Companies Act 1913 of British India, now The Companies Act 2017 ...
in the
2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
The 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was the 60th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's domestic first-class cricket competition. It was contested by 16 teams representing eight regional associations and eight departments, and took place ...
, with 735 runs in eleven matches.
On 27 January 2017, he made 131
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
and took 3 wickets for 12 runs in the final of the
2016–17 Regional One Day Cup
The 2016–17 Regional One Day Cup was a List A cricket tournament in Pakistan. The competition ran from 8 to 27 January 2017. The final was played between Karachi Whites and Peshawar, with Peshawar winning by 124 runs.
Teams
The following tea ...
. He was jointly named man of the match along with
Gauhar Ali
Gauhar Ali (born 5 May 1989) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for Peshawar. He made 145 not out in the final of the 2016–17 Regional One Day Cup and was jointly named man of the match along with Iftikhar Ahmed.
In April 2018, he was named i ...
. He was the leading run-scorer for
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
in the
2017 Pakistan Cup
The 2017 Pakistan Cup was the second edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition. It was held from 16 to 29 April 2017, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi. It was contested between five teams, ...
, with 244 runs in four matches.
In April 2018, he was named in
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
's squad for the
2018 Pakistan Cup
The 2018 Pakistan Cup was the third edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 25 April to 6 May 2018, with all the matches played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Federal ...
. In Sindh's opening fixture of the tournament, he scored 116 runs against
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
, and was named the man of the match, as Sindh won by 12 runs. He scored the most runs for Sindh during the tournament, with 230 runs in four matches.
He was the leading run-scorer for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in the
2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
The 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 1 September to 8 December 2018. Following the conclusion of each match, the teams played each other in a List A fixture in the 20 ...
, with 660 runs in seven matches. In March 2019, he was named in
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
's squad for the
2019 Pakistan Cup
The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...
.
In September 2019, he was named in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
's squad for the
2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
The 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 14 September to 31 December 2019. Habib Bank Limited were the defending champions. However, after the new domestic structure annou ...
tournament. In October 2021, he led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's successful title defence in the
2021–22 National T20 Cup
The 2021–22 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the eighteenth season of the National T20 Cup, with the tournament starting on 23 September 2021, and finished on 13 October 2021. In ...
, and was named both the player of the final and the player of the tournament.
International career
He was the top-scorer for
Pakistan A
The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...
in their two-day match against England in October 2015. He made his
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
debut on 13 November 2015 during the same tour. He made his
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
debut against England on 11 August 2016.
He was initially selected in Pakistan's squad for the
2016 ICC World Twenty20
The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India.
Seven ...
tournament, but he was later dropped due to poor form. However, he made his
Twenty20 International
A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...
debut for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in the
2016 Asia Cup
The 2016 Asia Cup (also called the Micromax Asia Cup T20) was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament that was held in Bangladesh from 24 February to 6 March 2016. It was the 13th edition of the Asia Cup, the fifth to be held in Bangl ...
on 4 March 2016.
In September 2019, he was included in the 16-man squad for Pakistan's series against Sri Lanka. He was one of three players who were called back to the team. In May 2020, the
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...
(PCB) awarded him with a central contract ahead of the 2020–21 season.
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. On 1 November 2020, in the second match against Zimbabwe, Iftikhar took his first
five-wicket haul
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman.
Takin ...
in ODI cricket.
T20 franchise career
In September 2018, he was named in Kandahar's squad in the
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
First edition
According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
of the
Afghanistan Premier League
The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) ( ps, ; fa, ), officially Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 cricket franchise tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), held in the United Arab Emira ...