Srinagar: Pakistan middle order batter Iftikhar Ahmed has said that he bow likes being called Chachu by his fans and enjoy it on the field.
The Word Chach mu has stuck with Iftikhar Ahmed and whenever he goes into the middle fans start chanting Chachu..Chachu. As per Iftikhar Ahmed it was Babar Azam who first called him the same and since then it has stuck.
As Ahmed’s popularity grew, so did the use of the “Chachu” nickname.
“If I tell you honestly, I was initially annoyed by the [Chachu] chants. However, now I enjoy it. I remember fans used to cheer for Shahid Afridi when he used to come to bat. Now, they cheer for me similarly, which makes me happy. It is not a bad thing, as it is the crowd’s way of supporting me. I am not bothered by it anymore and actually enjoy them, so I request the fans to keep enjoying,” Iftikhar said in an interview.
Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, during the post-match press conference of fifth ODI, also mentioned feeling embarrassed that due to him, his teammate, Iftikhar, is now known as ‘Chahcha.’ However, despite this feeling, he is happy that people enjoy it.
“Sometimes, I feel embarrassed that due to me Iftikhar is now known as ‘Chacha’ but I am happy that people enjoy it. He gave some brilliant performances in T20 cricket and today he took the game deep alone but unfortunately, he didn’t get support from the other end”.
“That is why we gave him a chance in ODIs because he has been playing great cricket for the last five-six months and we were struggling on those numbers so we are getting a lot of help from Iftikhar and Salman Ali Agha,” Babar said.