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Congratulations to Imam-ul-Haq for getting his name on the Lord's Honours Board with a fine 100

MenInG

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Excellent work from him and at a good rate too - gets a lot of negative press but seems most consistent
 
Youngest to get this at age of 23 and joins his uncle on that list
 
Hes played well here, other then this innings tho this has been a poor wc for him.

Still id keep him over fakhar. Replace fakhar with haider ali
 
Congrats Imam for your Hundred.

He is consistent and still young but his SR needs to improve more.
 
Yes amazing innings for the team. I will surely give him hearty congratulations when I see him.
 
Very good player. Needs to be encouraged. Him, Babar and Haris will be the core of Pak batting moving forward.
 
He puts Pakistan's interests above his own interests ;-)
 
Stick with him. He's very strong mentally and technically. His strike rate will improve playing PSL and T20 cricket.
 
Well he's done something that Sachin, Lara and Ponting couldn't :rabada2

The team had no plan of going for a qualification scenario. So no point attacking him I guess. He did the next best thing which was to try and win against a team, Pak have struggled to beat recently.
 
Well he's done something that Sachin, Lara and Ponting couldn't :rabada2

The team had no plan of going for a qualification scenario. So no point attacking him I guess. He did the next best thing which was to try and win against a team, Pak have struggled to beat recently.

And what is recently in your world?
How many ODIS we played recently?
 
Well played Imam.Clearly the best young left handed batsman from Asia.The best choice to lead as well after Safraz.
 
Congrats Imam, but this is a dead rubber, a ton against Australia or WI would have been a lot more handy!
 
Far better than Fakhar.

Both have accomplished 1 x ton in ICC comps.

I want Fakhar dropped, but I will take his hundred over Imam's dead rubber one any day of the week.
 
Fine player & much better than that one-inning wonder hack. Honestly don’t get the hate he gets on this forum,he can’t help if his uncle is Inzi.
 
Better show than Fakhar in the cup, but overall, a poor show in the tournament - went missing when he was needed.

These are quite soft runs in a dead rubber, he has hit tons against ZIM (& BD?) in the past too.

Overall, he has the potential to improve and if he can score against the top sides too at above 85 run rate, he can be a good option.
 
A shameful display of personal milestone padding. Wasted 100 balls. Thanks to him the difference between likely knocked out and actual knocked out is same now. Even Hafeez was striking it fine yet he was only interested in 1s and 2s.
 
If ever there was a useless hundred & to cement a place till the nxt world cup here it is.
 
Both have accomplished 1 x ton in ICC comps.

I want Fakhar dropped, but I will take his hundred over Imam's dead rubber one any day of the week.

At least he still has some upside. It is difficult to see Fakhar getting his rapidly fading career back on track.
 
Just 7 fours and yet 100 SR... must be a very good innings from him...
 
He played a selfish innings against a minnow team when the SR demand was over 160 for Pak to reach 400 min. for any fighting chance to survive .


Unfortunately, that would still be enough to guarantee his spot in the team for next several years..
 
To be honest. I was the string critics of Imam but I must admit I was wrong. The guy is mentally very strong and got good defense . He just need to work on his strokes . He is definitely a captaincy material for Pakistan. A long term captain
 
Brilliant stuff. Also love the fact that he said that he wished this 100 had come earlier in the tournament when it was really needed. Maturity. Rather than regurgitating the same captain coach gave me confidence, he was articulate. Also thankfully he said while we wished 400 we also need to be realistic and assess the conditions. Contrary to Sarfraz, who relies on miracles all the time.
 
Imam on his hundred


I would have been happier if this hundred would have come in other earlier matches, I was trying hard but not converting my 40-45s to 70s to 100 but that's how you learn

I am still new to international cricket but this 100 will always be the best one as its at Lord's and in front of a packed house so it will always be special
 
At least he still has some upside. It is difficult to see Fakhar getting his rapidly fading career back on track.

I agree Fakhar is finished, but he deserves more respect on PP for what he achieved two year agos. He was the best batsman in the tournament with clutch knocks from his first match against SA (following the defeat to India), up until the final. There were no failures from him in that CT.

His CT run was better than what Babar did in this WC. Obviously the latter is miles ahead, but Fakhar doesn't deserve to be bashed like this.

He has to be dropped - it's so sad to see someone who did wonders for the team not so long ago, struggle to keep his place in the side.
 
I dont understand why this guy gets so much hate, the Pakistan media should be ashamed for criticizing this lad, they act as if there is an opener like jason roy,bairstow,rohit sharma are waiting in line to replace imam.All he needs to do is improve his strike rate and he will be a world class batsman and the more games he get ,the strike rate will improve.He does have the mentality to be a world class player and I hope he works on his flaws and make himself a complete package.
 
At least he still has some upside. It is difficult to see Fakhar getting his rapidly fading career back on track.

I think one or two seasons will bring fakhars form back ,the same goes for hassan ali , we havent seen the last of these two.
 
Excellent, just wish it came earlier as he said himself. If you surround him with more attacking batsmen he isn't an issue, but still can work to decrease dot ball consumption in first PP.
 
pathetic innings.


getting a 100 against 120 kph bowling on a flat deck


these are the types of 100s that some people find as spectacular, however when you use analytics and assess how much percentage of his shots were attacking you will realise that he is just playing for his place in the side

these type of 100s mean nothing. he did not take the game away from the opponent he just sat and batted out the overs on a track where any Joe random could nudge his way to 50
 
I dont understand why this guy gets so much hate, the Pakistan media should be ashamed for criticizing this lad, they act as if there is an opener like jason roy,bairstow,rohit sharma are waiting in line to replace imam.All he needs to do is improve his strike rate and he will be a world class batsman and the more games he get ,the strike rate will improve.He does have the mentality to be a world class player and I hope he works on his flaws and make himself a complete package.

Hafeez was striking it, imad was striking it, haris was gone striking, only this ladla had to play at snail speed for his 100.

Where was this snail speed when this was actually required?
 
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Well played but Today's innings is a soft century from him against a poor attack. He is one of the culprits for Pakistan in this world cup. Averaged 25 before today's innings in this world cup. Hope he improves now.
 
best batsman in the squad after Babar. Future captain Inshallah. Might be too good for the uneducated awaam and Shahid Afridi fans.
 
1. Rare bright spots on one of many dark days in recent Pakistani sports history whose decline has mirrored the decay of Pakistani society. Congratulations to Imam, Babar, and Imad with limitations.

2. While a century at one of the opening spots compared to Pakistan's recent opening performances is noteworthy and this century is noteworthy given it was the highest score of Pakistan's innings, I'm not certain an even 100 at a SR of 100 is particularly impressive in the year 2019.

3. His comments that he feels "great and even special" when his side has failed to qualify for the semi-finals and given his performance in the tournament has not been amongst the top batsmen of the tournament were disappointing. He went further to add "he could not do a lot about his dismissal" which was a puzzling comment for me but is in line with the Pakistani culture of refusing to take responsibility and ownership of one's own performance. Is he attempting to make a case that his hit-wicket dismissal was caused by someone else?
 
congrats and good for him.

This is the only problem with Imam most of his innings are good for him.
 
Why do so many people hate him here? A good batsman with no major flaws to his technique. Even after several solid performances, you guys are finding faults. The problem is, in your imagination an opening batsman is someone who should have an average of 100 and a SR of 150. Some of you guys need to come back to the real world.
 
Both have accomplished 1 x ton in ICC comps.

I want Fakhar dropped, but I will take his hundred over Imam's dead rubber one any day of the week.

At least he still has some upside. It is difficult to see Fakhar getting his rapidly fading career back on track.



7 Odi hundreds at age 23. Imam was playing well against top Aussie pace attack until he played a lose shot on wide delivery and got out.



Fakhar’s hundred indeed was match winning but he got really lucky that day as Bumrah dismisses him on noball otherwise it would have been curtains for Fakhar and Pakistan.



Agree with Mamoon. Imam needs to improve his strike rotation, SR & fielding. Needs to learn quickly as to how to make scores of 75 when well set but he needs to be persisted with.
 
7 Odi hundreds at age 23. Imam was playing well against top Aussie pace attack until he played a lose shot on wide delivery and got out.



Fakhar’s hundred indeed was match winning but he got really lucky that day as Bumrah dismisses him on noball otherwise it would have been curtains for Fakhar and Pakistan.



Agree with Mamoon. Imam needs to improve his strike rotation, SR & fielding. Needs to learn quickly as to how to make scores of 75 when well set but he needs to be persisted with.

I have no issues with Imam keeping his place in the squad, my issue was he was simply not ready for this WC. Before this dead rubber today, he was averaging 25 in the tournament. If I had to pinpoint 2 players who have cost us a place in the semis; it would be him and Hasan Ali.

Shoaib Malik was the biggest liability in the squad, however he only played 3 games. Apart from his innings against Australia, his other 2 failures didn't have much impact on the outcome of the England game and India had already posted too many runs for us to be even remotely competitive in that contest.
 
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Funny that he scored a century and people are saying the usual "minnow basher" ** but if he failed he'd get blasted for not even scoring vs Ban. Lose lose situation. Also, worth noting Bang have dominated us in recent times.
 
Lacked intent in the first 10 overs, and that is something he needs to work on.

Though he is in the runs most of the time but the fans feel he needs to rotate the strike and do some power hitting when required. There was absolutely no reason to play 79 mph Saifuddin like he is McGrath on a flat pitch.
 
Our guys get 100s off100 balls while it seems that others are scoring 100s off 60 70 or 80 balls.
 
Well done to Imam. He looks better now than when he started his international career .
 
Funny that he scored a century and people are saying the usual "minnow basher" ** but if he failed he'd get blasted for not even scoring vs Ban. Lose lose situation. Also, worth noting Bang have dominated us in recent times.

In this situation, even if he got out for a duck while hitting, I think no one would have criticized.
 
Congrats on the 100 but don’t think he had a good World Cup. He’s a proper batsman so he’s not going to play innings like Roy or Butler but needs to work on rotating the strike. I felt he took too long to get going in this World Cup but I’d still persist with him.
 
For people who have been questioning merit in Imam Ul Haq's selection

Have been listening criticism on his selection for around 1 and a half years now.

He was youngest as well as the top scorer as opener in QAE trophy (2016-17) before his debut in 2017.

View attachment 93489

So how is it not on merit? When Pak wanted an opener who should they have selected? Being the highest scorer as opener and youngest amongst the top scorers, wasnt he the obvious choice. If not him then who should have been selected?

Further with his performances in ODI cricket he has proved he was rightly selected.

I cant deny he needs to improve his strike rate but questioning his selection and criticizing him for the sake of it is not the way to go.
 
Century at Lord’s helps Imam emerge from his uncle’s shadow

Imam Ul-Haq shoulders such heavy responsibility for a man whose best years are only just beginning.

At just 23, expectation is no stranger to a man for whom big things were dreamt when he could first lift a bat. Having Pakistan legend Inzamam Ul-Haq for an uncle will do that to you.

It brought with its critics and pressure, both internal and external, as he donned his country’s colours for the first time – with talk of family influence never far away.

A hundred on ODI debut alleviated any doubts. Now becoming his country’s youngest World Cup centurion, at Lord’s no less, has washed away opinions that suggest Iman is not a class act in his own right.

To lay the opening bat’s drive and desire, his ability and tenacity solely at the door of his family tree would do an injustice to one of the top batting talents of Pakistan cricket.

In 35 innings he has scored seven centuries, with five further scores of 50 or more, becoming the second fastest player to reach 1,000 runs and boasting the fifth-highest average of all-time after 20 innings.

But with that comes increased demand to lead his side from the front – and he certainly knows it.

A century against Bangladesh in this, his last 2019 World Cup outing, was by no means worth knocking but for Imam, the disappointment of matches past was still on his mind.

He said: "I think the Australia defeat hurts me a lot. I was set and playing well. I should have won that match for Pakistan.

“We lost four quick wickets and I think I should have won that game and we would have beaten a big team in the World Cup.

"I had starts but couldn't score big. I am very young so I have learned a lot in this World Cup. What mistakes I have committed; I have learned from them and I am sure that will help me.”

That knock of 53 against Australia almost a month ago marked his best innings until now but it was the runs he didn’t score that left the biggest impact, having been caught down the legside.

Pakistan were 136/2 at the time chasing 308. But Imam’s wicket brought on a collapse that saw them fall 41 short of a big scalp. How crucial that result, many a game since, feels now.

But it’s to the future where Pakistan must now look – and they couldn’t have asked for much of a better glimpse than Imam’s hand against the Tigers.

Determined to learn after the Taunton disappointment, a high score of 44 from four further innings was far from the ideal way to write any personal wrongs.

But Lord’s provided the perfect setting of a knock far more becoming of a man averaging north of 50 in 50-over cricket.

It began patiently as Pakistan, at 38/1, registered their joint-lowest powerplay of the World Cup, a crunching drive the highlight for a man who doesn’t faze easily.

From hard strokes came even harder running, a well-pushed three earning Imam 50 from 52 balls but the celebration, if that’s what you could call it, was muted. Work still to be done.

Babar Azam provided the entertainment en-route to scoring the most runs by a Pakistan player in a single World Cup but while he provided the style, his partner was providing the substance.

Babar went for 96 but Imam held firm, responding in kind with a sizzling square drive and then some intent, Shakib Al Hasan the victim of his slog sweep.

For a man so easy on the eye on the drive and off his hips, anything resembling a slog feels almost unbecoming. Fitting it was, therefore, when three figures were brought up with a gentle push down to long on.

One hundred runs, 99 balls, no Pakistan player younger to the milestone in World Cup cricket.

Record books rewritten but Imam, and the crowd, wanted more – such is his thirst for runs and their desire for a talented batsman to do what he does best.

But while this occasion was not to be – out hit wicket when playing off the back foot – few would put it beyond the 23-year-old to keep breaking record after record in ODI and World Cup cricket alike.

For now though, Imam Ul-Haq can sit content, knowing that a place on the Lord’s honours board for ODI cricket is forever his. Not even Inzamam can boast that.
 
He is not perfect, but it’s absolutely appalling the sort of flak he catches from the fans and experts just because of his connection to Inzi.
It’s not like we are spoilt for choices when it comes to batsmen who offer this sort of consistency. He has redeemed himself in my view. He is only 23, his best years are ahead and I hope he will improve his SR and shut up his critics for good.
Well played, Imam!
 
No matter how much runs Imam scores how how good he performs, Pakistani fans and PP still like to constantly p*ss on him for being too slow or being an uncles boy. Poor Imam, he still gets hate no matter what he does.
 
Will be a liability in Asia as he struggles to play spinners. Need players that can be aggressive against spinners. Needs to develop sweep shot against spin.
 
can imam ul haq become the best ever pakistan ODI opener?

IMO he is only competing with saeed anwar , he is not as gift as saeed anwar but he has grit and determination which can enable him to surpass saeed anwar as the best odi opener of pakistan. What do you guys think?
 
It just shows how mentally strong Imam is that even with constant criticism and often outright abuse, he still continues to perform. I don't think any other player in the current Pakistan team has faced the level of scrutiny that Imam has and mostly it's not even his fault. Certain people ("fans") want him to fail so badly only because of his uncle, that even his average being above 50 is a criticism! He's the only player to score a hundred in a game, then he must have been selfish and denied an imaginary player the opportunity to score the same century but faster. Totally ignoring that other than Babar and Haris who both have similar strike rates, no one else has looked capable of scoring hundreds consistently. There is no wonder kid playing in domestic cricket that Imam is denying a spot in the team. They tried all the leading openers in Pakistan domestic cricket already and Imam has clearly been the most consistent.
 
To be honest. I was the string critics of Imam but I must admit I was wrong. The guy is mentally very strong and got good defense . He just need to work on his strokes . He is definitely a captaincy material for Pakistan. A long term captain

You are a proper cricket fan, who seem to understand cricket not someone who hates a player because he is nephew or cousins of so and so. Shame about some the people here their cricket knowledge is so poor, dreadful.
 
On 29 July 2002,
@imAagarkar
scored a Test century at Lord's.

Some of the legendary batsmen of last 3 decades who do not have a Test 100 at Lord's:

Tendulkar (Best score 37 in 9 inns)
Lara (54 in 6)
Ponting (42 in 6)
Kallis (31 in 5)
ABD (43 in 3)
Younis (58 in 4)
 
Other 7000+ run-getters who do not have a Test century at Lord's:

Miandad
Laxman
ABD
Hayden
Sehwag
Langer
Lloyd
Warner
Kohli
R Taylor
Gayle
Fleming
 
He would be in my starting XI for a test match but hey, why pick Imam when you can pick the sensational Shan Masood :facepalm:

In my view, Imam and Fakhar are far better than Shan and Abid. I just find it a big shame that the management are keen to find that out the hard way on this tour.
 
He would be in my starting XI for a test match but hey, why pick Imam when you can pick the sensational Shan Masood :facepalm:

In my view, Imam and Fakhar are far better than Shan and Abid. I just find it a big shame that the management are keen to find that out the hard way on this tour.

Shan deserves to be there. I would pick Imam over Abid though given Abid’s lack of form as well as the fact that he has never been tested outside subcontinent conditions, but Imam has, and Imam played well in the warmups too.
 
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