ODI World Cup 2023: Team-wise players who might not get a national call-up after the tournament

9. Iftikhar Ahmed- Pakistan

Pakistan had come into the ICC World Cup 2023 as the no.1 ranked team and won their first two matches as well. But then they lost a bunch of matches including a first-time loss to Afghanistan in ODIs and it all came down to net run rate. But their fate was sealed already after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka and qualified for the semis.

Pakistan’s tournament was a failure from top to bottom and one reason was the failure of lower-order batters to propel the team to a big score. One such failure was Iftikhar Ahmed, who made 142 runs in 9 games at a strike rate of 115.44. He was one player who could’ve done well if promoted a bit up the order.

But at 34 years of age, and Pakistan not playing another ODI for a year, Ifti-mania might no longer be possible in the 50-over format. Pakistan might want to build towards a more modern and younger unit in preparation for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. It remains to be seen whether Ahmed finds himself in those plans.