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"I feel that Imam-ul-Haq is not a ready product for red-ball cricket" : Mohammad Wasim

MenInG

MenInG

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Mohammad Wasim explaining why Imam-ul-Haq not selected for Test series against SA

"I feel that Imam-ul-Haq is not a ready product for red-ball cricket; I feel he is one of the players who can be reconsidered once they perform well in red-ball format in domestic cricket"

==

So here is my question.

Why has Imam been considered for Tests all this while?


d7ace797-6b22-4068-a7fe-18665031b969.jpg
 
Doesnt make sense tbf. Abdullah Shafique has done nothing to suggest he is the finished product in comparison to Imam.
 
Good decision. Imam is a decently good ODI player and also has the potential to play longer form cricket, but needs to work on his game in first class cricket.

The decision was essentially, after Abid and Imran Butt, we don’t have any other proper first class openers. So do we begin developing Abdullah Shafique or Imam ul Haq, both of whom haven’t played much first class cricket?

From those two, I feel Abdullah is the better decision to sit on the bench though should not actually make his debut. I want him to play more first class cricket before that. Same with Imam. If Imam outperforms him or Imran Butt this year, for example, I will have no issues with Imam being called up instead.
 
Well said. An opener who averages 25 despite playing over a third of his Tests in UAE, who got bounced out on those dead tracks and repeatedly fished outside off, who's had only one good FC season in his career, is not the solution to our opening woes.
 
MenInG said:
So here is my question.

Why has Imam been considered for Tests all this while?


View attachment 106178
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Because other selectors felt he was ready and were willing to give him chances to find his feet in Test cricket, considering he has shown very good temperament in ODI cricket and the ability to occupy the crease for long periods.

This M. Wasim’s opinion, not universal truth. An opinion that is laughably inconsistent considering he selected Shafique.

Shafique must be the biggest talent in history of Pakistan cricket if he is ready product for Test cricket after only 1 FC match.
 
Rana said:
Doesnt make sense tbf. Abdullah Shafique has done nothing to suggest he is the finished product in comparison to Imam.
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His Technique excites them. He was caught unaware on variable bounce in NZ and thrown into T20, he should stick to longer formats. Although i firmly believe atleast 1 full season on FC is imperative
 
Excellent decision.

Imam actually hasn't had the time to work on his deficiencies in domestic cricket considering he always has been there since 2017. He has some serious issues on the outside offstump line which is a problem for an opener, just like Shan Masood.

Having said that I do find Imam gritty and he has the ability to become a consistent performer for Pak in the future if he works on his shortcomings and performs consistently in domestic cricket.
 
Canistani Hero said:
His Technique excites them. He was caught unaware on variable bounce in NZ and thrown into T20, he should stick to longer formats. Although i firmly believe atleast 1 full season on FC is imperative
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He has enormous potential, but I hope it doesn't turn out to be an Asad Shafiq type selection just for his aesthetically pleasing shots. We as a nation have a knack of doing that.

Should have had a full season, but hopefully he is able to show (if selected) why people rate him highly.
 
Wssim has made atrocious selections. Tabish ,Rauf and Abdullah Shafique.
Tabish is way past his prime and on the brink of retirement. Abdullah and Rauf are simply not good enough for Test cricket. Have to say its such a fall from grace that players like Rauf and Abdullah are getting selected after 1 FC match
 
First off, when was the last time Imam played a test? 2 years ago? So like where is this criticism coming from? Just sounds very strange and out of the blue. I'm no fan of Imam, but he has played a number of credible innings at the test level. He needs to work on certain things but he is much more of an international level cricketer than most players in this country.

And then to suggest that Abdullah Shafique somehow is a finished product for test cricket is absolutely ludicrous. I don't think there's any other team in the world that selects more (or any) players for test cricket with barely any FC experience. From Naseem to Musa to Rauf and now Abdullah Shafique. And then when the results reveal themselves we select more players with barely any FC eexperience.
 
Bewal Express said:
Yes. These guys work in fractions of seconds and when i watch him he is late on the ball
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If he had such a problem with his eye sight he wouldn't be averaging over 50 in ODIs. The whole point of glasses is make you see better.

This doesn't even qualify as a handicap lol. Chris Rogers was colorblind. And still had a successful career as an Australian opener.
 
Mamoon said:
Because other selectors felt he was ready and were willing to give him chances to find his feet in Test cricket, considering he has shown very good temperament in ODI cricket and the ability to occupy the crease for long periods.

This M. Wasim’s opinion, not universal truth. An opinion that is laughably inconsistent considering he selected Shafique.

Shafique must be the biggest talent in history of Pakistan cricket if he is ready product for Test cricket after only 1 FC match.
Click to expand...

Have to say, the majority of Wasim's decisions have logic and sense to them EXCEPT this selection of Shafiq. It seems to go against everything Wasim is saying so I do not understand why he has done this.

Ever the selection of Rauf has some logic given the lack of alternatives - he's the fastest bowler in Pakistan and at the prime age.
 
Forum363 said:
Have to say, the majority of Wasim's decisions have logic and sense to them EXCEPT this selection of Shafiq. It seems to go against everything Wasim is saying so I do not understand why he has done this.

Ever the selection of Rauf has some logic given the lack of alternatives - he's the fastest bowler in Pakistan and at the prime age.
Click to expand...

Selection is also about motivating players. Well all know that he won't make it to the squad of 16. But after a tough tour it would spur him on. Alternatively this may motivate Imam
 
Mamoon said:
Because other selectors felt he was ready and were willing to give him chances to find his feet in Test cricket, considering he has shown very good temperament in ODI cricket and the ability to occupy the crease for long periods.

This M. Wasim’s opinion, not universal truth. An opinion that is laughably inconsistent considering he selected Shafique.

Shafique must be the biggest talent in history of Pakistan cricket if he is ready product for Test cricket after only 1 FC match.
Click to expand...

He won't make it to the 16 man squad. But maybe it would be good for his Long term morale and make him think like a long format player
 
Imam definitely has work to be done with. His playing style suits the longer format.
 
I think Imam shouldn't have been disregarded so easily. Removing him from the squad based on his injury is fine, but shouldn't be dropped.

He has good temperament and is one of the few Pakistanis who can play a long innings as we've seen in ODIs. He's had some tough away tours but he hasn't actually played a test in ages so I think it's a bit unfair to drop someone without actually giving him a fair shot again especially since the openers have been far from great
 
Thing is how was he supposed to become a ready product for red ball cricket when he was travelling with the ream for couple of years without playing tests or domestic cricket.

Not Moh Wasim's fault but, its unfair on someone like Imam. He has shown good temperament for international cricket, was kept in the side for couple of years as back up opener only for the reality check to come later that he isnt ready.

Yes these things happen when the selection committee and policy changes but, feel for Imam as he couldnt play much QAE to prove is metal in last two years and couldnt get opportunities at test level as well.
 
Imam is a decent batsman, but he is not Saeed Anwar, he is a limited player. He needs to try and strike at 85 in OD at least and look to bat through deep.
 
Mamoon said:
Because other selectors felt he was ready and were willing to give him chances to find his feet in Test cricket, considering he has shown very good temperament in ODI cricket and the ability to occupy the crease for long periods.

This M. Wasim’s opinion, not universal truth. An opinion that is laughably inconsistent considering he selected Shafique.

Shafique must be the biggest talent in history of Pakistan cricket if he is ready product for Test cricket after only 1 FC match.
Click to expand...

Imam is injured as well, but your point still stands. Abdullah has hardly played any domestic cricket at all, someone like Haider Ali would have been a much better choice just by the fact that both have played more FC Cricket.

However, there is a huge lack of options for opening batsmen. Someone like Azhar Ali should ideally start to open to accomodate a youngster like Haider or Imam at 3 until they are ready to open the batting.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
If he had such a problem with his eye sight he wouldn't be averaging over 50 in ODIs. The whole point of glasses is make you see better.

This doesn't even qualify as a handicap lol. Chris Rogers was colorblind. And still had a successful career as an Australian opener.
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The statistics are a bit misleading but I take the point but I also think that he is late on the ball.
 
As far as Shafiq is concerned, well at this stage I trust the judgement of MW. He didn't have a good start but MW must know something from the reports of the team management and the other selectors.
 
Imam did nothing of merit to be re-selected. There are other openers, i support and commend Wasim for his bold decisions.
 
Well according to Imam he is injured, but according to the selectors he has been dropped - interesting scenario.
 
The constant narrative from many posters that Imam should be selected in test cricket based on his form in ODI cricket is possibly the single most delusional opinion on this forum. The lad is a walking wicket at test level with that horrendous technique. I'd pick Fakhar Zaman ahead of him if given the choice between two poison pills.
 
Okay fair enough but then how are Haris Rauf and Shafique ready for test cricket?
 
Imam is the best Test and ODI opener in Pakistan. We will eventually make peace with this reality after ploughing through all the inferior options one by one.

We like to do things the hard way as always.
 
Mamoon said:
Imam is the best Test and ODI opener in Pakistan. We will eventually make peace with this reality after ploughing through all the inferior options one by one.

We like to do things the hard way as always.
Click to expand...

Plays across his pads and head position is awful.falls over.
Needs a slight more open stance with the ball coming back into him. 1 more proper FC season with data and analysis wont do him any harm.
 
Mamoon said:
Imam is the best Test and ODI opener in Pakistan. We will eventually make peace with this reality after ploughing through all the inferior options one by one.

We like to do things the hard way as always.
Click to expand...

Never thought the day would come when I would agree with a Mamoon post! But it has😊
 
for those getting angry at Wasim.

Tabish is not going to be playing. I feel this is just a selection to make the guy feel happy about finally being selected for Pakistan. Ideally this should have happened 10 years ago, but our selections were in love with Rahat Ali for some reason.

Same with Harris and Shafique. They wont be in the playing 11. They are just getting some time with the squad. I believe they will get their chance once they score runs or take wickets in domestic.

This is a 20 man team, so a lot of it is about getting some people into the system. Realistically your 11 will be made from:

Abid Ali
Azhar
I Butt

Babar
Fawad
Saud / Kamran

Rizwan

Faheeem / Nawaz

Hasan Ali
Yasir S
SSA
 
Imam seems like he has all the goods, but I agree that he need to go back to domestic and make runs. His success was clearly getting to his head and he needs to focus on his cricket.
 
Mamoon said:
Imam is the best Test and ODI opener in Pakistan. We will eventually make peace with this reality after ploughing through all the inferior options one by one.

We like to do things the hard way as always.
Click to expand...

You use to say the same thing about Ahmed Shehzad as well and while I hoped you were right he turned out to be a wasted investment.

Imam does merit a place in the ODI team but he's as substandard as the others in tests.

He was given a run of 10 tests out of the 11 Pakistan played from May 2018-Jan 2019 with the luxury of 4 tests in the UAE and scored 3 fifties across 20 innings.

He was outperformed by a mediocre Shan in South Africa and in his 11th and last test in Australia. An average of 25.52 across 21 innings which includes 7 innings in the UAE doesn't deserve a recall.

His average of 35.14 across 49 first-class games isn't deserving of selection either. This doesn't mean Shan or Abdullah Shafique deserved to be selected either.

At the moment he's a far inferior test bat to Sami Aslam who performed very well in England and NZ in 2016. Sami was hard done by and worth the investment.

Imam must go back to domestic cricket and earn his place. Given how substandard the other options are it shouldn't be too difficult for him to outperform the others.
 
He needs to work on the short ball and outside the off stump were hes both vulnerable
 
I think he should for now focus only on white-ball cricket, rather than try to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
 
It took Rohit Sharma a decade of T20 and ODI appearances and performances before he became a permanent member of the Test side
 
So to compare the two, he uses Imam's Test career stats and Abdullah Shafique's qualifier stats? This is a mockery of stats and while I am no statistician, I feel personally attacked.
 
Savak said:
It took Rohit Sharma a decade of T20 and ODI appearances and performances before he became a permanent member of the Test side
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Rohit isn't exactly the route imam should be taking when it comes to devaloping as a test cricketer... :abbas1
 
He was already ruled out of the series through injury, so why on earth is Wasim bringing him up in this discussion.

So he can run a PowerPoint, that’s exciting.
 
Bigboii said:
Rohit isn't exactly the route imam should be taking when it comes to devaloping as a test cricketer... :abbas1
Click to expand...

Was pointing maybe loads of ODI and T-20 experience might help Imam in test cricket when he gets a recall. I see Rohit batting now in test cricket and feel he is a much more confident, mature batsman who will translate his ODI, T-20 form into test cricket.
 
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Imam was given a decent run in test side and was exposed both away and in the UAE. The guy was struggling against Short ball vs NZ on dead UAE tracks.

Also just because you do well in ODIs doesnt mean the same in test. Are players like Jason Roy / Alex hales / Aaron finch / Guptil / munro etc.. who have opened in ODIs playing test? No because "cardboard cut out" technics which you get away with in ODIs playing on roads where its so in favour of the batsmen. Apart from David warner in current era most other teams have diff openers for ODIs and test.

Imam would do well to play county cricket and improve his technic and batting.
 
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A.A.Z said:
You use to say the same thing about Ahmed Shehzad as well and while I hoped you were right he turned out to be a wasted investment.

Imam does merit a place in the ODI team but he's as substandard as the others in tests.

He was given a run of 10 tests out of the 11 Pakistan played from May 2018-Jan 2019 with the luxury of 4 tests in the UAE and scored 3 fifties across 20 innings.

He was outperformed by a mediocre Shan in South Africa and in his 11th and last test in Australia. An average of 25.52 across 21 innings which includes 7 innings in the UAE doesn't deserve a recall.

His average of 35.14 across 49 first-class games isn't deserving of selection either. This doesn't mean Shan or Abdullah Shafique deserved to be selected either.

At the moment he's a far inferior test bat to Sami Aslam who performed very well in England and NZ in 2016. Sami was hard done by and worth the investment.

Imam must go back to domestic cricket and earn his place. Given how substandard the other options are it shouldn't be too difficult for him to outperform the others.
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Excellent post and some very good and hard hitting points made.
 
Looking at the competition, he'll find it easy to be recalled for the next series.

There's no test class opener in Pakistan at the moment.
 
Savak said:
It took Rohit Sharma a decade of T20 and ODI appearances and performances before he became a permanent member of the Test side
Click to expand...

Rohit Sharma has always had a good first-class record. Even then, he's still not a permanent member of the Test side. There are a number of players vying for those two spots right now. Gill, Sharma, Agarwal, Shaw. For now, it's Gill and Sharma. A couple of bad series later, who knows?
 
Given the failures of Abid and Imran - will Imam make a comeback?
 
So Imam not alone by being on Mohammad Wasim's hit list....Also Imad Wasim.
 
Saj said:
Well according to Imam he is injured, but according to the selectors he has been dropped - interesting scenario.
Click to expand...

Come on Saj, surely he is far better than Imran Butt and Abid Ali. Abid is in his mid-30's and Imran is surely atleast 30. They both won't improve. Rather invest in Imam and give him oppurtunities like Babar Azam was given.
 
Imam 91 in 50 over practice game at Gaddafi Stadium
 
Tbh, this was one of the dumbest things M. Wasim could've said. To just shut the test door like that, that too on an international player is just ridiculous. Considering the kind of players that we have tested in this format till now, Imam is miles ahead.

I do not know how someone like M Wasim can judge a batsman like that.
 
Snowflake said:
Tbh, this was one of the dumbest things M. Wasim could've said. To just shut the test door like that, that too on an international player is just ridiculous. Considering the kind of players that we have tested in this format till now, Imam is miles ahead.

I do not know how someone like M Wasim can judge a batsman like that.
Click to expand...
23 average in 11 tests, flopping vs De Grandhonme 115 thunder bojlts in UAE... Nuff said.
 
Snowflake said:
Tbh, this was one of the dumbest things M. Wasim could've said. To just shut the test door like that, that too on an international player is just ridiculous. Considering the kind of players that we have tested in this format till now, Imam is miles ahead.

I do not know how someone like M Wasim can judge a batsman like that.
Click to expand...

Well to be honest Imam was given ample chances and he needs to spend more time in the domestic circuit before being re-selected or better yet go play County cricket.

I'd like to see what Abdullah can bring to the table but that chance is being hampered by selecting Abid again.
 
Snowflake said:
Tbh, this was one of the dumbest things M. Wasim could've said. To just shut the test door like that, that too on an international player is just ridiculous. Considering the kind of players that we have tested in this format till now, Imam is miles ahead.

I do not know how someone like M Wasim can judge a batsman like that.
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You can judge him based upon stats and how he plays against the swinging ball and the short ball.But the positive thing is that once he set he can go big like in odis format and hes stil young
 
I notice this selector publicly makes a lot of judgement calls on various players. It's not really necessary.
 
He is very transparent here.Probably I guess there is huge pressure on him from external forces to include certain players.Hence he is taken this approach.
 
Varun said:
I notice this selector publicly makes a lot of judgement calls on various players. It's not really necessary.
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I think for PCT , this kind of approach is the way to go. Why because every single player who has been around the team , feels like he is entitled to play forever regardless of the performance.

Examples: Hafeez, Malik, Afridi, Akmal brothers, shehzad, Asad shafiq, and many more.


Had he been selector in the past, Afridi would have retired a few years earlier , Hafeez and Malik wouldn’t be playing t20s now or demanding a chance to feature in T20 WC
 
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Imam should be the opener in both tests and ODI. He has got the right temperament with technique.
 
Imam Ul Haq should have been playing here

Surely, this was a great oppurtunity for Imam, a young opener with long term potential to be playing here vs Zimbabwe over Abid Ali. The chief selector claims Imam is not ready for tests. So wasn't this a great oppurtunity against a weak bowling attack for Imam to get some confidence and exposure?
 
Sher Khan said:
Surely, this was a great oppurtunity for Imam, a young opener with long term potential to be playing here vs Zimbabwe over Abid Ali. The chief selector claims Imam is not ready for tests. So wasn't this a great oppurtunity against a weak bowling attack for Imam to get some confidence and exposure?
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I feel wasim has an agenda against some players, he is waiting for imam to fail in one odi series, and he will kick him out of the odi team soon,
 
Sher Khan said:
Surely, this was a great oppurtunity for Imam, a young opener with long term potential to be playing here vs Zimbabwe over Abid Ali. The chief selector claims Imam is not ready for tests. So wasn't this a great oppurtunity against a weak bowling attack for Imam to get some confidence and exposure?
Click to expand...

Tbh Imam is very weak against deliveries that leave him outside off stump. In ODI's its manageable for obvipus reasons but in tests we have seen him give catching practice to slips everytime he's played. Even grandhomme had him in the slips multiple times on dead UAE wickets
 
HappyWarsFan said:
23 average in 11 tests, flopping vs De Grandhonme 115 thunder bojlts in UAE... Nuff said.
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Shoaibbtt said:
Well to be honest Imam was given ample chances and he needs to spend more time in the domestic circuit before being re-selected or better yet go play County cricket.

I'd like to see what Abdullah can bring to the table but that chance is being hampered by selecting Abid again.
Click to expand...

shamaan said:
You can judge him based upon stats and how he plays against the swinging ball and the short ball.But the positive thing is that once he set he can go big like in odis format and hes stil young
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Totally fair. Tbh, I wasn't aware that his test numbers are that bad. The reason I support his inclusion is because I feel that both the current openers do not belong at the international level. Imam, despite his poor numbers, has a much higher ceiling than these guys.
 
If he is not ready, why not play him in this series so that he can take an incremental step towards becoming ready?

This is essentially a club level series with Test status, and there was no better chance to let someone like Imam, who already has very sound temperament, to get a couple of massive hundreds and gain some confidence.

Pakistan gains absolutely nothing by persisting with two mediocre, overage openers that we all know are not good enough against top bowling.

The laughable part is that our backup is another overage failure like Masood.

M. Wasim is a gift that keeps on giving. No vision and no common sense at all.
 
Mamoon said:
If he is not ready, why not play him in this series so that he can take an incremental step towards becoming ready?

This is essentially a club level series with Test status, and there was no better chance to let someone like Imam, who already has very sound temperament, to get a couple of massive hundreds and gain some confidence.

Pakistan gains absolutely nothing by persisting with two mediocre, overage openers that we all know are not good enough against top bowling.

The laughable part is that our backup is another overage failure like Masood.

M. Wasim is a gift that keeps on giving. No vision and no common sense at all.
Click to expand...

Imam will be a great missed opportunity for Pakistan. He is good. Needs experience, and Zimbabwe were ideal for that. Don't know what Pakistan are learning by playing Butt and Abid.
 
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