In T20 pakistan vs india Iftikhar was especially fond of Axar Patel’s spin as the Pakistan No. 4 helped his team recover from the losses of Babar Azam for a golden duck and Mohammad Rizwan for only four to record 159/8 at a jam-packed MCG.
By the end of the fourth over, Arshdeep Singh (3/32) had both of Pakistan’s openers back in the pavilion, but Iftikhar (51 off 34 deliveries) and Shan Masood (52* from 42 deliveries) proceeded to feast on India’s spinners.
In order to revive Pakistan’s innings, the pair added 76 runs for the third wicket, with Shaheen Afridi (16 off 8 balls) striking some significant late blows to help raise the score.
Iftikhar scored 21 runs off one Axar over, slamming three sixes in as many deliveries to reach just his second career half-century in T20Is.
After removing Iftikhar, veteran seamer Mohammed Shami (1/25) was immediately reintroduced into the attack. Hardik Pandya (3/30) then picked up a brace of wickets to reduce Pakistan to 106/5 with five overs remaining.
In the penultimate over of Pakistan’s innings, a cool-headed Masood reached his third T20I half-century, giving India a respectable total to chase in order to win the competition for bragging rights..