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Sangakkara-fan Ikram breaks Tendulkar's rare WC record

12:25 PM Jul 05, 2019 | PTI |

Leeds: Afghanistan’s Ikram Ali Khil broke the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record of the highest score by an 18-year-old in the World Cup and though he is proud of bettering the Indian icon’s feat, it is Kumar Sangakkara that he wants to emulate in his career.

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Ikram’s 86 off 92 balls against the West Indies on Thursday saw him move ahead of Tendulkar, who scored 84 as an 18-year-old against New Zealand in the 1992 World Cup.

“I’m very proud to have broken the record of a legend like Tendulkar. It makes me very happy,” said the wicket-keeper batsman.

But Ikram was candid enough to admit that it is not Tendulkar but fellow left-handed batsman Sangakkara who he admires as a role model.

“Kumar Sangakkara is always in mind and my thoughts when I am batting out there,” said Ikram, who is yet to meet the Sri Lankan great.

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“His (Sangakkara) ability to rotate strike and find a boundary when needed, that is what made him a world class batsman. That is what I try to copy as much as I can.”

But unfortunately, Ikram’s knock came in a losing cause as Afghanistan lost by 23 runs against West Indies.

Ikram’s 86, however, became the top score by an Afghan batsman in this World Cup.

“I’m very happy that I scored 86 runs which was the top score for Afghanistan, said Ikram, who was part of the Afghanistan team that reached the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup last year.

“No one had crossed that mark in nine games but I’m disappointed at the same time because I thought I could score a hundred. Hopefully in the games ahead I will score a hundred for Afghanistan.

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