Imad Wasim ends retirement, set to play T20Is for Pakistan leading up to and in ICC T20I World Cup 2024 [Post Updated #116]

[160KPH]

Is Imad Wasim going to solve world hunger next? Maybe find the cure for cancer?

He’s a decent utility player and he had a good playoff run in the PSL this year, but his international career was extremely average. That’s not to say he should not be selected - he probably deserves a shot if he wishes to return considering how good his playoff run was - but he’s not going to solve all of our teams problems. Not even close.

 

[Nasty Naz]

There are some rumours that Imad has kept 2 conditions to take his retirement back. Hope this is not true and just a rumour.

Truly is strange how things are run in Pakistan...

Imad Wasim played all 5 T20 matches in NZ at home last year and 3 matches vs Afghanistan too. This is the last T20 matches Pakistan played before it was all ODI's leading up to WC. Afterwards, which he retired when he was due to be selected for the upcoming series vs NZ. To avoid being selected and playing in that series, he retires so he could play in leagues and now has demands to come out of retirement? It's laughably stupid stuff.

BTW, for all the talk as if some great injustice was done against Imad to keep him out of the side, it's completely made up stuff. Imad last 2 years before he got left out - ranging from Nov 2019 - Nov 2021, here are his bowling stats:

20 matches, 14 wickets, 32.92 AVG 7.43 economy
As batsmen: 11 innings, 10.55 AVG, 128 SR with a high score of 20 during that span

Nawaz was doing better at the time and it completely made sense why Imad was discarded at the time. Things have changed now and Imad is doing better than Nawaz now so a return makes sense but just saying, let's not pretend like some great injustice was done against Imad like many have claimed.

 

[160KPH]

Truly is strange how things are run in Pakistan...

Imad Wasim played all 5 T20 matches in NZ at home last year and 3 matches vs Afghanistan too. This is the last T20 matches Pakistan played before it was all ODI's leading up to WC. Afterwards, which he retired when he was due to be selected for the upcoming series vs NZ. To avoid being selected and playing in that series, he retires so he could play in leagues and now has demands to come out of retirement? It's laughably stupid stuff.

BTW, for all the talk as if some great injustice was done against Imad to keep him out of the side, it's completely made up stuff. Imad last 2 years before he got left out - ranging from Nov 2019 - Nov 2021, here are his bowling stats:

20 matches, 14 wickets, 32.92 AVG 7.43 economy
As batsmen: 11 innings, 10.55 AVG, 128 SR with a high score of 20 during that span

Nawaz was doing better at the time and it completely made sense why Imad was discarded at the time. Things have changed now and Imad is doing better than Nawaz now so a return makes sense but just saying, let's not pretend like some great injustice was done against Imad like many have claimed.

Exactly right. There’s so much revisionism being done currently.

What really happened was that Imad Wasim was good in bilateral series and then had a very average World Cup and also a bad PSL. He was then dropped for Nawaz who had a very good PSL. To this day Nawaz has better T20 batting stats while Imad has better T20 bowling stats.

It wasn’t that long after until Imad Wasim was brought back in the squad and he got to play the entire New Zealand series and more than half of the Afghanistan series. He chose to give up international cricket to go make money in leagues and appear on TV shows. He even got a personal call from Hafeez to sign a central contract and continue playing for Pakistan, but he once again chose league cricket and chose to retire. Then he had a pretty average/bad 9 match run in PSL where people doubted him. And then he had a couple of good batting performances and bowling performances and now people are pretending like we have kept Gary Sobers on the bench and away from the team.

 

[BouncerGuy]

He can be asked to take his retirement back for him to be considered for any series but no special protocol should be given. He is just another player and should be treated like the same. No need to hype him to the moon like he is some Viv Richard of batting or Muralidharan or Shane Warne in bowling. Let's see how Imad is going to respond if the news is true.

 

[mominsaigol]

I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.

He has a below 50% win rate in PSL as captain of Karachi Kings and couldn’t keep the job, but somehow he would have led us to winning a WC which is 100x harder?

Why does everyone always go from one extreme to the completely opposite extreme? People are talking about Imad Wasim as if he’s Gary Sobers, yet he averages 15 with the bat in T20. He’s not even as good as Sikandar Raza, Shakib, Pandya, etc all of which are all better all rounders who have not been able to lead their team to a T20 WC.

Maybe his batting would have helped in the 2023 WC, but his bowling in Asia in ODI is horrible and literally worse than Nawaz and Shadab.

How on earth can you proclaim his bowling is worse when shadab and nawaz on current form were literally the worst bowlers of asia cup and world cup minus Joe root?

Stats argument is a terrible way to look at things, it discounts the idea that players can improve over time nor does it account for current form.

Imad's average is years old, since then Last nz series he clearly outperformed shadab and nawaz wasn't even selected as imad was first priority. He literally murked NZ c team while nawaz even in that series in odi couldn't do anything.

Since then these 2 clowns gave been so bad they've turned into entire memes.

What happened in 2020/ 2021/ 2022 is irrelevant, heck what occurred in 2023 is also irrelevant even though 2023 supports my stance.

All that matters is current form.

 

[160KPH]

How on earth can you proclaim his bowling is worse when shadab and nawaz on current form were literally the worst bowlers of asia cup and world cup minus Joe root?

Stats argument is a terrible way to look at things, it discounts the idea that players can improve over time nor does it account for current form.

Imad's average is years old, since then Last nz series he clearly outperformed shadab and nawaz wasn't even selected as imad was first priority. He literally murked NZ c team while nawaz even in that series in odi couldn't do anything.

Since then these 2 clowns gave been so bad they've turned into entire memes.

What happened in 2020/ 2021/ 2022 is irrelevant, heck what occurred in 2023 is also irrelevant even though 2023 supports my stance.

All that matters is current form.

You realize all of Imad’s good performances are in league cricket and against B and C sides as well right? In the T20 WC when he faced full strength sides, he averaged 11 runs at 90 SR and only took 4 wickets the entire tournament.

You also completely ignored what I said in the post and what I was responding to.

The post, which you liked, said:

Should have become Pakistan’s white ball captain after the 2019 ODI WC.

I have no doubt Pakistan would have won either the 2021 or 2022 WT20 tournaments and boosted their chances of making the semis in the 2023 World Cup under his leadership.

As I said before, considering he was absolutely horrible in the one T20 WC he played in, that he had less than a 50% win rate as Karachi Kings captain in matches, and he is an absolutely horrible ODI bowler, especially in Asia, explain to me clearly how his inclusion/captaincy would have won us either the 2021 or 2022 WT20?

 

[160KPH]

How on earth can you proclaim his bowling is worse when shadab and nawaz on current form were literally the worst bowlers of asia cup and world cup minus Joe root?

T20 bowling and ODI bowling is not the same at all. Imad doesn’t take wickets, but he bowls some economical spells in T20. In ODI, he’s absolutely horrible, especially against good sides.

His record in Asia, where spinners usually do well, is horribly bad. Shadab and Nawaz are horrible ODI bowlers, yet somehow Imad has been even worse than that.

 

[mominsaigol]

T20 bowling and ODI bowling is not the same at all. Imad doesn’t take wickets, but he bowls some economical spells in T20. In ODI, he’s absolutely horrible, especially against good sides.

His record in Asia, where spinners usually do well, is horribly bad. Shadab and Nawaz are horrible ODI bowlers, yet somehow Imad has been even worse than that.

That's completly besides the point, the past literally does not matter if imad has proved himself to be in better and superior form both batting wise, bowling wise and economy wise then those other 2 for the past 1.5 years now.

And I don't know why you're bringing up odi when rn all preparations are for the t20 world cup and I doubt any odi will even be played in 2024.

 

[160KPH]

That's completly besides the point, the past literally does not matter if imad has proved himself to be in better and superior form both batting wise, bowling wise and economy wise then those other 2 for the past 1.5 years now.

And I don't know why you're bringing up odi when rn all preparations are for the t20 world cup and I doubt any odi will even be played in 2024.

Because that’s what the post I was responding to was talking about? You liked the post and I quoted it again above.

The post said Imad Wasim leading our side would have won us either the 2021 or 2022 WC and helped us make the semi finals in 2023 ODI WC.

And I don't know why you're bringing up odi when rn all preparations are for the t20 world cup and I doubt any odi will even be played in 2024.

So I don’t know why you’re bringing up 2024 when the post I was responding to was about 2021 and 2022 T20 WC and 2023 ODI WC.

 

[Mamoon]

I’m happy with this.

Imad has become a bigger player over the last couple of years because the longer you stay out of the team, the better you get because delusional fans forget your failures and only care to remember your rare success.

He has always got a bigger mouth on him now and has a cult fan following who think he is some super match winner and a better cricketer than Babar.

This is why I am happy to see him return to the team. When he fails this time around, it will be utterly embarrassing and he will be kicked out forever and no one will care about him.

Imad and his cult fans with their revisionism nonsense and hype have created a situation where there is going to be too much pressure on him now when he returns to the Pakistan team.

Failure awaits him om his return and all the big talk will turn into a busted flush.

 

[mominsaigol]

I’m happy with this.

Imad has become a bigger player over the last couple of years because the longer you stay out of the team, the better you get because delusional fans forget your failures and only care to remember your rare success.

He has always got a bigger mouth on him now and has a cult fan following who think he is some super match winner and a better cricketer than Babar.

This is why I am happy to see him return to the team. When he fails this time around, it will be utterly embarrassing and he will be kicked out forever and no one will care about him.

Imad and his cult fans with their revisionism nonsense and hype have created a situation where there is going to be too much pressure on him now when he returns to the Pakistan team.

Failure awaits him om his return and all the big talk will turn into a busted flush.

So if you're proven wrong again like you were 3 times in a row, what then? And of Babar has another poor outing that he did in 2022, what then?

Will you concede or still post fan fiction of being pcb chairman?

 

[160KPH]

I’m happy with this.

Imad has become a bigger player over the last couple of years because the longer you stay out of the team, the better you get because delusional fans forget your failures and only care to remember your rare success.

He has always got a bigger mouth on him now and has a cult fan following who think he is some super match winner and a better cricketer than Babar.

This is why I am happy to see him return to the team. When he fails this time around, it will be utterly embarrassing and he will be kicked out forever and no one will care about him.

Imad and his cult fans with their revisionism nonsense and hype have created a situation where there is going to be too much pressure on him now when he returns to the Pakistan team.

Failure awaits him om his return and all the big talk will turn into a busted flush.

This always happens. For some reason, Pakistani cricket fans always pretend that the players sitting on the bench and those who can’t make the team are Vivian Richards, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne. And then when they play international cricket and fail, everyone moves on and pretends the next player who has not been selected is Vivian Richards, Wasim Akram, etc.

If we had just selected Imad Wasim, we would have won the last 3 WC’s. Never mind that he failed in the one WC he played in and is an absolutely horrible ODI bowler. Or that his T20 batting in international cricket is worse than Shadab and Nawaz. Also trust me, his brilliant 5.5 run average at a 84 SR in the 2 T20 WC’s he’s played were incredibly impactful runs!

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Players like Imad, Amir, Fakhar aren't statistically appealing, I agree. If you look at their stats, they might look mediocre, but they have that X factor. If you are going to look at their stats to prove to everyone that they are terrible, you basically miss the point. Shahid Afridi was terrible too. But when he fired, Pakistan inevitably won. So he was in the team for his X-factor and lower utility. Pakistan has 3 players to choose from for the similar X factor all rounder. We have either Shadab the pretender, Nawaz the all rounder or Imad. I know who to choose if I want some sort of X factor. If you are going to humiliate Imad by comparing him with Babar as a player, you have lost the battle already. Babar is not stealing Imad's spot or vice versa. Their roles are so different it's not even funny. It's like ending up with an ENT doctor for multi vessel coronary artery disease. How can an ENT doctor take care of the bypass graft? They are both essential. You don't want to fire the ENT doctor because otitis media is just as terrible. But you definitely don't want to compare a run of the mill ENT with a cardiovascular surgeon. Babar probably ticks most marks as a good, technical player. Probably a cardiovascular resident who is trying to be come a CVS surgeon. But Imad is just as capable ENT doctor to help fight those little ear infections that plague the team. Would you humiliate the ENT doctor for not being able to offer surgery to the multi-vessel disease problem? Because it seems that people continuously show Imad in poor light because they want Imad to be some world beater who is better than all other others players in the world.

Secondly, what's his competition? Babar? No. Babar is a batsmen who comes at number 3. Imad's is fighting for a role of all rounder and Babar doesn't even bowl spin. So I repeat, unless Babar suddenly starts looking at playing at 6 or 7 and becomes a lusty lower order hitter and a spin bowler, this comparison is just useless. Apples to oranges or orangutans or whatever you want.

Thirdly, I honestly don't know why people try to compare accumulators like Babar or Rizwan to someone like Imad or Fakhar. Babar and Rizwan will simply not win you a game in another 5 years vs top class teams. They have their niche. Especially Babar. He can be a good number 3 with rest of the team building around his anchor. Rizwan is terrible at the top, yet refuses to reconsider his position, hence his usefulness to the team must be considered. Haris hitting 30 off 15 balls as a utility player with wicketkeeping skills is better than a Rizwan 50 off 40 balls. Its simple mathematics. The more balls you use up as a T20 player, the less chance for remaining 10 batsmen to impact the game.

Finally, people really need to grow out of their likes or personal dislikes. If Imad goes to the World Cup and performs terribly, he can be discarded again if a better spinning all rounder evolves. If the options are Nawaz or Shadab, you can't discard someone for being terrible and put someone else who is even more terrible as a replacement. Let me repeat that in bold letters. You can't discard someone for being terrible if the replacement you offer is even worse than the one you discarded. If Imad performs awful at the World Cup, before loading your guns, find me a replacement who performs better than him. We don't sack Babar or Rizwan because we believe they are no suitable replacements yet we always sack Imad because he is terrible.

In a nutshell, a core group of players who are the best for Pakistan at the current time should represent the team and these fake comparisons should stop because it looks like a lot of babies having their pram moment and trying to prove one better than the other.

 

[160KPH]

So if you're proven wrong again like you were 3 times in a row, what then? And of Babar has another poor outing that he did in 2022, what then?

Will you concede or still post fan fiction of being pcb chairman?

In PSL, Iftikhar Ahmed batting is as explosive as Vivian Richards and Usama Mir takes wickets like Shane Warne.

You can’t pretend 3 performances in PSL, and failing in the rest of the tournament, somehow overrides the rest of his good sized international career. He’s played 66 T20s and 55 ODIs.

He chose by himself to leave the team to go play league cricket despite being asked by Hafeez to stay. After the last T20 WC he played all 8 T20 matches we played that year.

 

[BouncerGuy]

As per reports:

Imad Wasim has proposed two requirements for his return. His first demand is to have a category in the central contract, and secondly, he wishes to have no future restrictions on the No Objection Certificate (NOC). If the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accepts these conditions, he will consider reversing his retirement decision.

 

[Mamoon]

So if you're proven wrong again like you were 3 times in a row, what then? And of Babar has another poor outing that he did in 2022, what then?

Will you concede or still post fan fiction of being pcb chairman?

I’m more than happy to always be proven wrong in the eyes of ignorant cricket fans

 

[Mamoon]

As per reports:

Imad Wasim has proposed two requirements for his return. His first demand is to have a category in the central contract, and secondly, he wishes to have no future restrictions on the No Objection Certificate (NOC). If the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accepts these conditions, he will consider reversing his retirement decision.

Such high demands for averaging 60 with the ball vs the top sides

Imad is a meme.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

As per reports:

Imad Wasim has proposed two requirements for his return. His first demand is to have a category in the central contract, and secondly, he wishes to have no future restrictions on the No Objection Certificate (NOC). If the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accepts these conditions, he will consider reversing his retirement decision.

Not bad demands.

He didn't ask for Category A contract, and should be given his NOC's.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Such high demands for averaging 60 with the ball vs the top sides

Imad is a meme.

Averaging 57 hasn't got Pakistan over the line either.

 

[160KPH]

Players like Imad, Amir, Fakhar aren't statistically appealing, I agree. If you look at their stats, they might look mediocre, but they have that X factor.

You’re misrepresenting how stats work. Fakhar has very good ODI stats and Amir has very good stats in tournaments - although mediocre stats outside of them.

Thirdly, I honestly don't know why people try to compare accumulators like Babar or Rizwan to someone like Imad or Fakhar.

Stop putting Imad and Fakhar in the same sentence. In T20 international, Imad is also just an accumulator. In the 9 T20 WC matches he has played, he averages 5.5 at an 84 SR and has taken a total 7 wickets. Fakhar Zaman is a genuine match winner who has performed at the highest of stages.

Babar and Rizwan 152/0 alone against India is way more than anything Imad Wasim has accomplished in T20 international.

yet we always sack Imad because he is terrible.

We sacked him one time when Nawaz was out performing him. Then Nawaz played badly and Imad Wasim played all 8 matches after the WC ended. Then out of nowhere Imad Wasim decided to retire.

Haris hitting 30 off 15 balls as a utility player with wicketkeeping skills is better than a Rizwan 50 off 40 balls. It’s simple mathematics. The more balls you use up as a T20 player, the less chance for remaining 10 batsmen to impact the game.

Completely agree, Rizwan is too slow at opening and we have better options currently so he should be replaced as an opener in T20.

If Imad goes to the World Cup and performs terribly, he can be discarded again if a better spinning all rounder evolves. If the options are Nawaz or Shadab, you can't discard someone for being terrible and put someone else who is even more terrible as a replacement.

Shadab will be in the team regardless, it’s Nawaz’s spot that Imad Wasim will take. I am okay with Imad Wasim rejoining the team if he takes back his retirement, but I’d prefer to start investing in a new all rounder rather than go back to someone who is a below average T20 batsmen and a decent economical bowler.

 

[MenInG]

Imad is supposed to play 100, US league etc

NOC rules will need some bending.

But then other players will complain.

Over to you Naqvi mian

 

[Dr_Bassim]

You’re misrepresenting how stats work. Fakhar has very good ODI stats and Amir has very good stats in tournaments - although mediocre stats outside of them.

Stop putting Imad and Fakhar in the same sentence. In T20 international, Imad is also just an accumulator. In the 9 T20 WC matches he has played, he averages 5.5 at an 84 SR and has taken a total 7 wickets. Fakhar Zaman is a genuine match winner who has performed at the highest of stages.

Babar and Rizwan 152/0 alone against India is way more than anything Imad Wasim has accomplished in T20 international.

We sacked him one time when Nawaz was out performing him. Then Nawaz played badly and Imad Wasim played all 8 matches after the WC ended. Then out of nowhere Imad Wasim decided to retire.

Completely agree, Rizwan is too slow at opening and we have better options currently so he should be replaced as an opener in T20.

Shadab will be in the team regardless, it’s Nawaz’s spot that Imad Wasim will take. I am okay with Imad Wasim rejoining the team if he takes back his retirement, but I’d prefer to start investing in a new all rounder rather than go back to someone who is a below average T20 batsmen and a decent economical bowler.

I am just arguing stats can't be used to compare players like Babar and Rizwan to players like Fakhar and Imad. It just doesn't work that way. You may agree or disagree, but its the truth. No one cares about the stats of Maxwell, yet he remains a part of the team because Australians know he has the X factor.

Babar and Rizwan's ceiling is 160. That's why you can celebrate the 152-0. If ever, there was a match that proved their ceiling, its that one. Once the required score is 180, they are a liability in T20. And above 200, you can bet 100 percent Pakistan will lose the match. That's how useless they become as the RRR gets higher.

I am not going to go into why Imad retired as I don't like playing politics on the forums. If he retired, so be it. But he shouldn't have been discarded for a mediocre cricketer like Nawaz.

Shadab being in the team, regardless is again, exactly what I am arguing about. Babar, Rizwan, Shadab, Shaheen stay in the team regardless of performances or attributes. But the others get sacked based on how they perform series to series. That's pretty damning indictment of how Pakistan team is a hostage to a few cricketers.

 

[Mamoon]

Averaging 57 hasn't got Pakistan over the line either.

What line are we talking about?

Winning a World Cup isn’t the be all and end all that renders everything else useless.

Cricket is played outside tournaments too. Babar has done more for Pakistan than Imad can hope to achieve in a million years.

Pakistan is the only country that is obsessed with “match winners” with poor stats.

Imad with his bang average numbers is one of the biggest match losers Pakistan has ever had.

His average of 60+ with the ball vs the top sides in ODIs was the driving force behind Pakistan’s minnow like record in 2018-2019.

 

[Mamoon]

I am just arguing stats can't be used to compare players like Babar and Rizwan to players like Fakhar and Imad. It just doesn't work that way. You may agree or disagree, but its the truth. No one cares about the stats of Maxwell, yet he remains a part of the team because Australians know he has the X factor.

Babar and Rizwan's ceiling is 160. That's why you can celebrate the 152-0. If ever, there was a match that proved their ceiling, its that one. Once the required score is 180, they are a liability in T20. And above 200, you can bet 100 percent Pakistan will lose the match. That's how useless they become as the RRR gets higher.

I am not going to go into why Imad retired as I don't like playing politics on the forums. If he retired, so be it. But he shouldn't have been discarded for a mediocre cricketer like Nawaz.

Shadab being in the team, regardless is again, exactly what I am arguing about. Babar, Rizwan, Shadab, Shaheen stay in the team regardless of performances or attributes. But the others get sacked based on how they perform series to series. That's pretty damning indictment of how Pakistan team is a hostage to a few cricketers.

You lost the plot when you compared Fakhar and Imad.

Fakhar has impressive stats too, he is not just a mystical match winner. He averages 40+ vs the top sides which is impressive for someone who plays the way he does. He is a proper match winner.

Imad with his 60+ bowling average is one of the biggest match losing spinners Pakistan has ever produced. He makes an average spinner like Shahid Afridi look like Shane Warne.

 

[Mamoon]

The fact that Imad fans are putting him in the same category of match winners as Fakhar shows how delusional they are. It is absolutely hilarious.

Next they will compare his mindset, temperament and cool-mindedness in run chases with Virat Kohli.

 

[IMMY69]

Imad is supposed to play 100, US league etc

NOC rules will need some bending.

But then other players will complain.

Over to you Naqvi mian

I wanted Imad in the side for the 2023 World Cup and wouldn't mind him being there for this years T20 World Cup...

However, absolutely no rules should be bent for him and enough if this nonsense of begging players to come back and that the Captain is doing this and that to get players in...

It's pathetic, unprofessional and some of the posters who are arguing over a recent sample size of three games and "ooh he has the X factor" are just simply immature or worse still dishonest.

What a sad indictment

 

[Dr_Bassim]

You lost the plot when you compared Fakhar and Imad.

Fakhar has impressive stats too, he is not just a mystical match winner. He averages 40+ vs the top sides which is impressive for someone who plays the way he does. He is a proper match winner.

Imad with his 60+ bowling average is one of the biggest match losing spinners Pakistan has ever produced. He makes an average spinner like Shahid Afridi look like Shane Warne.

The fact that Imad fans are putting him in the same category of match winners as Fakhar shows how delusional they are. It is absolutely hilarious.

Next they will compare his mindset, temperament and cool-mindedness in run chases with Virat Kohli.

The truth is I am a fan of Pakistan team.

You werent a fan of your team for decades but suddenly started gushing over Babar over last few months.

But I will ignore that.

I will tell you a better secret.

You can kick Babar and Rizwan out of the team and Pakistan has still the same chance of winning the World T20.

You kick Fakhar, Imad, Shaheen or Amir out of the team and Pakistan wont win the World Cup even if Babar and Rizwan average a 50 every match.

Thats how useless your hero Babar is.

 

[CerebralPatriot]

As per reports:

Imad Wasim has proposed two requirements for his return. His first demand is to have a category in the central contract, and secondly, he wishes to have no future restrictions on the No Objection Certificate (NOC). If the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accepts these conditions, he will consider reversing his retirement decision.

I think he should add a third condition which somehow reduces the power of Babar and his gang of 4. Until that does not happen than Imad coming back to the Pakistan team will be like before, a couple of good games followed up by one poor game where he gets dropped for good

 

[160KPH]

Babar and Rizwan's ceiling is 160. That's why you can celebrate the 152-0. If ever, there was a match that proved their ceiling, its that one. Once the required score is 180, they are a liability in T20. And above 200, you can bet 100 percent Pakistan will lose the match. That's how useless they become as the RRR gets higher.

Our 3 highest run chases in the history of our T20I team were all carried by Babar and Rizwan.

Pakistan 208/3 against West Indies.
Pakistan 205/1 against South Africa.
Pakistan 203/0 against England.

Now you will say these came against B and C teams and to that I would agree. However, almost all of Imad’s match winning T20 performances have also come in bilateral T20 series against B and C teams. In T20 WC’s, Imad Wasim has been completely average.

So if yore going to use Imad Wasim’s T20 performances against B and C teams to argue that he is a match winner and X factory, then Babar and Rizwan have won us matches against B and C teams more times than Imad has.

I say this as someone who would like Babar and Rizwan replaced as openers by Saim and someone like Harris.

I am not going to go into why Imad retired as I don't like playing politics on the forums. If he retired, so be it. But he shouldn't have been discarded for a mediocre cricketer like Nawaz.

He was discarded for a short period of time because Nawaz was performing better than him. Then when Nawaz was bad he was dropped and Imad came back. Why should a player that’s not performing well get to hold their spot against someone else who is performing better? When it became clear Nawaz was playing worse he was also dropped - this is how it should work.

Shadab being in the team, regardless is again, exactly what I am arguing about. Babar, Rizwan, Shadab, Shaheen stay in the team regardless of performances or attributes. But the others get sacked based on how they perform series to series. That's pretty damning indictment of how Pakistan team is a hostage to a few cricketers.

Every team has its core of players. Babar and Rizwan keep their spots because they’re the highest run scorers and Shaheen keeps his spot due to being the highest wicket taker. To me it does not make much sense to drop the best performing players on a bad team when you could first start by dropping the players performing really badly - even if the best ones are not playing that good.

I am just arguing stats can't be used to compare players like Babar and Rizwan to players like Fakhar and Imad. It just doesn't work that way. You may agree or disagree, but it’s the truth. No one cares about the stats of Maxwell, yet he remains a part of the team because Australians know he has the X factor.

I don’t agree with this because match winning performances do show up in stats, Maxwell for example averages 47 at a 160 SR in ODI WC’s. That’s ridiculously good!

Fakhar Zaman had Amir are also genuine match winners who have performed in tournaments. Fakhar Zaman averages 46 at a 93 SR which is pretty solid. Amir has good tournament stats.

It’s very rare for a player to have absolutely horrible or mediocre career stats and then still produce match winning performances. Stokes is one rare exception, he has mediocre stats but is a genuine match winner across formats.

The only issue I take with this X factor thing is that yeah maybe there’s players who perform 1/10 matches but they’ll win you that 1 match. But that completely ignores how they may have caused you to lose the other 9.

But if you believe Imad Wasim is an X factor on the same level as Amir and Fakhar then please list the performances in big moments that he has given. It’s okay if Imad Wasim gets selected, but I’m just tired of people pretending like we have been missing out on having Gary Sobers in the team all because of a few matches in PSL.

 

[160KPH]

Imad is supposed to play 100, US league etc

NOC rules will need some bending.

But then other players will complain.

Over to you Naqvi mian

It should be the same rules for everyone as it relates to NOC rules. Imad Wasim is not some Kohli or Tendulkar level player to be making these demands. Players of that class usually do not even make such demands for special treatment.

 

[Slim]

I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.

He has a below 50% win rate in PSL as captain of Karachi Kings and couldn’t keep the job, but somehow he would have led us to winning a WC which is 100x harder?

Why does everyone always go from one extreme to the completely opposite extreme? People are talking about Imad Wasim as if he’s Gary Sobers, yet he averages 15 with the bat in T20. He’s not even as good as Sikandar Raza, Shakib, Pandya, etc all of which are all better all rounders who have not been able to lead their team to a T20 WC.

Maybe his batting would have helped in the 2023 WC, but his bowling in Asia in ODI is horrible and literally worse than Nawaz and Shadab.

Gotta agree with you here dawg, the Imad captaincy thing is too much territory. Hes a decent option over the likes of Nawaz and deserves to play. And thats it. He is not some world beater. I have always supported his selection but for the right reasons.

 

[pakistani pride]

This will be a new low in Pak cricket if they select Imad again. After him smoking during a match, should have ended all discussions. Also him having demands to represent Pakistan is pathetic.

PSL is doing so much harm to Pak cricket. Same Imad will be smashed to all corners in Int cricket.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

PCB has been bullying players with NOCs for quite some time now. Imad never prioritized T20 leagues over national duty...they just held their stupid 2 T20 league rule over his head and denied him an NOC eventhough he doesn't play all three formats. And he's not the only one who has suffered as a result of this. Mohammad Haris reached Bangladesh when he was told he couldn't play the BPL because he had already played 2 leagues, eventhough there was no cricket for him to play elsewhere.

PCB should be looking out for players. Pakistani players don't play IPL as it is. These T20 leagues are sometimes their best opportunities to make good money. Instead PCB comes up with a nonsensical rule that they apply to all players indiscriminately eventhough only a fraction of them represent Pakistan in all formats.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

This will be a new low in Pak cricket if they select Imad again. After him smoking during a match, should have ended all discussions. Also him having demands to represent Pakistan is pathetic.

PSL is doing so much harm to Pak cricket. Same Imad will be smashed to all corners in Int cricket.

So what if he had a smoke? Ben Stokes had a smoke during the innings break of the World Cup final. A number of cricketers smoke...probably during matches.

 

[shaz619]

The President of Pakistan should give Imad a phone call to and convince him to come back. Imad to take Pakistan to World T20 glory.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Imad Wasim has made himself available for Pakistan ahead of this year's T20 World Cup.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1771500446462685354

 

[Barragan]

His experience in the Caribbean will be invaluable.

 

[ads101]

This will be a new low in Pak cricket if they select Imad again. After him smoking during a match, should have ended all discussions. Also him having demands to represent Pakistan is pathetic.

PSL is doing so much harm to Pak cricket. Same Imad will be smashed to all corners in Int cricket.

He shouldn’t have smoked. He could be fitter. He is not at 100% of his abilities as a result of these things. However he’s good enough to be in the team. And that’s enough. He’s not a liability to the team for sure.

If we can’t argue any lower order batsmen/allrounders which we would take over Imad. I don’t see how justifiably keeping him out. There has to be an actual better defined alternative.

 

[FearlessRoar]

It was much needed for Pakistan. Hopefully, he will be part of the T20I squad for the New Zealand series

 

[ads101]

PCB has been bullying players with NOCs for quite some time now. Imad never prioritized T20 leagues over national duty...they just held their stupid 2 T20 league rule over his head and denied him an NOC eventhough he doesn't play all three formats. And he's not the only one who has suffered as a result of this. Mohammad Haris reached Bangladesh when he was told he couldn't play the BPL because he had already played 2 leagues, eventhough there was no cricket for him to play elsewhere.

PCB should be looking out for players. Pakistani players don't play IPL as it is. These T20 leagues are sometimes their best opportunities to make good money. Instead PCB comes up with a nonsensical rule that they apply to all players indiscriminately eventhough only a fraction of them represent Pakistan in all formats.

I agree I never saw imad prioritise leagues before. I think it’s just he got upset that he was dropped despite performing. That hurts. What’s more when lower performances from your competitors are tolerated instead that hurts even more. There was no question of his allegiance to international duty when he was a regular.

It’s a sad situation. I think some selector/ person in management made a wrong call and predicted imad would fail in the future. They were wrong. I dunno why this keeps happening. Fawad, Taufeeq umar, and now imad all dropped because we predicted they’d fail in the future rather than waiting for them to fail. All pretty much proved that wrong with successful comebacks.

People also just don’t respect these type of cricketers which bowl economically and hit some runs down the order. I don’t understand why honestly, these guys often have the biggest impact in matches. Imad has always been a super consistent player, he always produces something to the match, whether it’s bat, wickets or keeping down runs. Stats support this.

 

[Ahmed216]

Multiple threads discussing Imad's value as a cricketer I am happy he's back. This spamming is going to end after he features in a few games

 

[daytrader]

Flip flop as expected. Typical Pakistani things

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

The state of things when they need a bits and pieces player who like a fag break back

 

[Major]

Lol what a dramaybaaz....

Anyways, he is not confirmed for the world t20 as of yet and he should know that.

His selection in the world t20 should be conditional and the condition simply being he needs to perform in international.

Pakistan has a few t20 series coming up and imad will get selected. But if he fails to show anything, than he should be dropped, as we dont want to take non performers to the world t20.

 

[Major]

Multiple threads discussing Imad's value as a cricketer I am happy he's back. This spamming is going to end after he features in a few games

This.
Basically the fan base is not an actual base. Its just that ever since sarfraz was out of the picture and the fans dont see any rival of Babar so they are now doing there bidding on imad.

Basically its not imad fans but babar critics who would even support a wild dog if that dog barked at babar because for these two three fans here, anyone against babar is there favourite player

 

[mominsaigol]

Lol what a dramaybaaz....

Anyways, he is not confirmed for the world t20 as of yet and he should know that.

His selection in the world t20 should be conditional and the condition simply being he needs to perform in international.

Pakistan has a few t20 series coming up and imad will get selected. But if he fails to show anything, than he should be dropped, as we dont want to take non performers to the world t20.

Wait his performance needs to be conditional but what if rizwan and Babar fail or how about when nawaz failed 24/7 or when shadab keeps failing 24/7?

Again singling out imad?

 

[pakfan54588]

If you have left with shadab and nawaz than it is right choice to call him back especially in t20i he is proven performer

 

[mominsaigol]

They need to make him captain now, if pcb has any sense, they need to make him captain instead of rizwan,

Don't use the KK logic, inad won psl once and by fans twisted troll logic it was because of Babar well he has Bobby in his team so stay happy.

 

[Mohraheem]

Now go replace Chacha!

 

[Major]

Wait his performance needs to be conditional but what if rizwan and Babar fail or how about when nawaz failed 24/7 or when shadab keeps failing 24/7?

Again singling out imad?

Maybe discuss imad without discussing babar and rizwan.

So you want imad to play the world t20 even if he doesnt perform during the series?

The other players are regular members and regular members get leverage, a very good example of this is fakhar zaman. Doesnt perform regularly but because he is a regular member he gets more leverage than anyone else.

Imad is making a comeback. Comeback players dont get leverage because there are more players wiating and that could be given a go ahead. Had imad been a regular player thay would had meant he was performing and could had been given an extended run.

Imad will also get an extended run if we look at it, but if the guy fails to do in 10 t20 than sorry no world t20 for you.

I think you should have confidence in the player you support, already worrying that your favourite should be given leevrage only shows that you also know his will most likely fail at international cricket

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I’m happy with this.

Imad has become a bigger player over the last couple of years because the longer you stay out of the team, the better you get because delusional fans forget your failures and only care to remember your rare success.

He has always got a bigger mouth on him now and has a cult fan following who think he is some super match winner and a better cricketer than Babar.

This is why I am happy to see him return to the team. When he fails this time around, it will be utterly embarrassing and he will be kicked out forever and no one will care about him.

Imad and his cult fans with their revisionism nonsense and hype have created a situation where there is going to be too much pressure on him now when he returns to the Pakistan team.

Failure awaits him om his return and all the big talk will turn into a busted flush.

Imad may not be a great player. But he's a massive upgrade on Nawaz. Babar did keep backing that guy who has proven to be a perennial choker and generally a poor bowler/allrounder.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Congrats Pakistan.. its there cup to lose. They have got the superstar allrounder they wanted.

 

[mominsaigol]

Congrats Pakistan.. its there cup to lose. They have got the superstar allrounder they wanted.

No, fans want usman Khan, Amir and imad as captain and be given complete control of every decision.

Only then can we fix things.

 

[Major]

One person translated this tweet very nicely, basically this:

"I announced retirement in December because I wanted to play T10, ILT20, BBL but if I had Central Contract I couldn't fullfil that commitment. So I decided to retire and earn money which is obviously more than PCB paying to me. As now only IPL is going on till WC and they would never ever pick me so I decided to remain loyal with Pakistan and decided to come back.

For me When there is No League then Country always comes first." - Imad Wasim in his tweet

 

[RidiculousMan]

Hope he now works on his fitness to become an even more valuable member of Pakistan's T20I team.

He can potentially be a match winner in the WT20

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Lol what a dramaybaaz....

Anyways, he is not confirmed for the world t20 as of yet and he should know that.

His selection in the world t20 should be conditional and the condition simply being he needs to perform in international.

Pakistan has a few t20 series coming up and imad will get selected. But if he fails to show anything, than he should be dropped, as we dont want to take non performers to the world t20.

If he plays well then he can balance our side for the Caribbean. I'm happy he is back. All the other spinners we have tried have failed miserably. At least Imad can hit a bit and bowl some tight overs.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Gutless PCB. Always allowing players to blackmail them

If PCB was an efficient organisation with competent people at the helm I would agree. Obviously I don't.

 

[Kianig89]

Imad has been made like a modern Kallis or Soberx2 on the basis of a PSL lacking any world class international stars no wonder as per Justice Cook "Clowns work in PCB"

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

On Imad himself, he's already a proven performer at international level. He might not be the best spin all rounder but he's a very decent one, and is head and shoulders above proven flops like Nawaz who has been given so many opportunities to let Pakistan down.

Bring Imad back, he will be worth his place. Just don't expect miracles, every spin bowler takes punishment in T20's at some point.

 

[Major]

Imad has been made like a modern Kallis or Soberx2 on the basis of a PSL lacking any world class international stars no wonder as per Justice Cook "Clowns work in PCB"

Bro no one is supporting him its just the usual three who are supporting him because he talks against babar.

Imad doesnt have that same fan following that he used to in the past. Once you call quits on pakistan people dont forget that

 

[mominsaigol]

People need to be fair to imad now.

Don't critisize him 24/7, he won't perform in every match but I guarantee that he will perform more then babar and rizwan.

Secondly make him captain and give him a proper run till 2027 to fix pakistan's problems.

Give him full control over every decision to be made. Imad is an educated individual, he'll know what to do.

 

[Major]

On Imad himself, he's already a proven performer at international level. He might not be the best spin all rounder but he's a very decent one, and is head and shoulders above proven flops like Nawaz who has been given so many opportunities to let Pakistan down.

Bring Imad back, he will be worth his place. Just don't expect miracles, every spin bowler takes punishment in T20's at some point.

He isnt head and shoulders above nawaz. Before nawaz, imad was getting all the games and yet imad had nothing to show for which is why we went the nawaz route.

Now that nawaz didnt perform, that doesnt mean you go back to imad you look for more players.

The issue with both nawaz and imad was same, they cant spin the ball. Someone like ravi bopara would be more threatning than them..


Now we have guys like Mehran Muntaz, Abrar, Faisal Akram and Arif Yaqoob coming in

 

[emranabbas]

Wait his performance needs to be conditional but what if rizwan and Babar fail or how about when nawaz failed 24/7 or when shadab keeps failing 24/7?

Again singling out imad?

last year shadab averaged 18 with the bat and 32 with ball if we apply the rule that we are applying on imad then shadab should never be allowed to play for pakistan again

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Anyways, he is not confirmed for the world t20 as of yet and he should know that.

His selection in the world t20 should be conditional and the condition simply being he needs to perform in international.

Why isn’t he confirmed, PCB basically went to his house and begged him to take his retirement back, gave into whatever his demands were just to be picked for the NZ and ENG T20 series, lol?

 

[mominsaigol]

last year shadab averaged 18 with the bat and 32 with ball if we apply the rule that we are applying on imad then shadab should never be allowed to play for pakistan again

Exactly, these people clearly have an agenda, they don't bother singling out horrible players bit will single out a genuine match winner.

 

[mominsaigol]

Why isn’t he confirmed, PCB basically went to his house and begged him to take his retirement back, gave into whatever his demands were just to be picked for the NZ and ENG T20 series, lol?

Imad is a utility player and pcb is coming to their senses, however if I was inad I'd ask to be captain and request that I be given complete control over every single affair, so that I can build a team capable of atleast competing by 2027.

Rizwan and saya will run our cricket into the ground. Imad as captain is the last hope.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Imad is a utility player and pcb is coming to their senses, however if I was inad I'd ask to be captain and request that I be given complete control over every single affair, so that I can build a team capable of atleast competing by 2027.

Rizwan and saya will run our cricket into the ground. Imad as captain is the last hope.

it’s Pakistan, the only thing you can build in that country is a road with a poster of your face on every lamppost just to remind the people who built the road.

By 2025, Najam Sethi will be back and Imad will be removed from the team.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

He isnt head and shoulders above nawaz. Before nawaz, imad was getting all the games and yet imad had nothing to show for which is why we went the nawaz route.

Now that nawaz didnt perform, that doesnt mean you go back to imad you look for more players.

The issue with both nawaz and imad was same, they cant spin the ball. Someone like ravi bopara would be more threatning than them..


Now we have guys like Mehran Muntaz, Abrar, Faisal Akram and Arif Yaqoob coming in

I used to criticise Imad for the same reasons, his over-reliance on the arm ball. But he gets a lot of wickets through flight through the air and superb control of line and length. While he's not a big spinner, he can actually turn the ball when he wants and that's enough to put doubt in the batsman's mind.

Also the biggest asset he has got is a big match temparent, exactly what is missing from Nawaz. Mehran and Abrar are promising spinners, their time will come, but for the T20 world cup you want mature and proven performers. Plus he can bat better than those guys, a big factor in T20.

 

[mominsaigol]

Maybe discuss imad without discussing babar and rizwan.

So you want imad to play the world t20 even if he doesnt perform during the series?

The other players are regular members and regular members get leverage, a very good example of this is fakhar zaman. Doesnt perform regularly but because he is a regular member he gets more leverage than anyone else.

Imad is making a comeback. Comeback players dont get leverage because there are more players wiating and that could be given a go ahead. Had imad been a regular player thay would had meant he was performing and could had been given an extended run.

Imad will also get an extended run if we look at it, but if the guy fails to do in 10 t20 than sorry no world t20 for you.

I think you should have confidence in the player you support, already worrying that your favourite should be given leevrage only shows that you also know his will most likely fail at international cricket

That's not true, Shadab, Nawaz and as much as I hate to admit it, even fakhar deserve a boot. They didn't perform for an entire year, their performance was so bad that It was an entire meme.

You're clearly singling imad out, bcci doesn't operate this way, their literally rumors of them leaving kohli out due to sr concerns, they also had no issue completly removing their so called consistent players and taking a brand new overhauled team in 2013 CT where they pretty much replaced half the team and gave rohit the opening position.

kick everyone out who doesn't perform in that series, no golden boy treatments.

 

[Markhor]

Pakistan needs all the help it can get with its limited talent pool (especially in our spin department).

So I'm glad things have been patched up.

 

[mominsaigol]

it’s Pakistan, the only thing you can build in that country is a road with a poster of your face on every lamppost just to remind the people who built the road.

By 2025, Najam Sethi will be back and Imad will be removed from the team.

That's why I'm presenting a hypothetical scenario as to what would happen if you gave imad waseem complete control over all of Pakistan cricket affairs, both managerial and political.

 

[Asif321]

Much needed end of Nawaz for now atleast

 

[Rana]

Imad has been made like a modern Kallis or Soberx2 on the basis of a PSL lacking any world class international stars no wonder as per Justice Cook "Clowns work in PCB"

The same applies for Babar then who apparently has revolutionised his batting playing 2 ramp shots against Hunain Shah

 

[Pakpak]

Did Imad deserve his spot over Nawaz? 100%
Did Imad deserve his spot over Shadab? 100%
Was Imad hard done by due to politics? 100%
Does he deserve to be in the team? 500%
Will he improve the team? 500%


However this entire episode is hilarious. The board begging this guy, running after him as if we're chasing prime Gary Sobers has been an embarrassment. Shows how far the talent has fallen in Pakistan. He's not even as good Razzaq and I'd cringed if the board chase Razzaq like this, despite Razzaq having some ATG innings.

 

[Major]

I used to criticise Imad for the same reasons, his over-reliance on the arm ball. But he gets a lot of wickets through flight through the air and superb control of line and length. While he's not a big spinner, he can actually turn the ball when he wants and that's enough to put doubt in the batsman's mind.

Also the biggest asset he has got is a big match temparent, exactly what is missing from Nawaz. Mehran and Abrar are promising spinners, their time will come, but for the T20 world cup you want mature and proven performers. Plus he can bat better than those guys, a big factor in T20.

The reason why he is getting a go ahead is because we dont have powerplay bowlers, especially spinners. All our spinners are defensive spinners. You are right about him getting wickets but once Pakistan gets a proper spinner unleashed, Imad will slowly be out again.

But i think if someone like Salman Agha and Iftikhar start being trust with the ball more, they can also provide the same value.

I am not sold on to Imad being in the World T20 squad yet. Yes, for the next 2-3 t20 series, his selection is warranted and if he performs in international now, only than bring him for the world T20.

 

[Pakpak]

That's not true, Shadab, Nawaz and as much as I hate to admit it, even fakhar deserve a boot. They didn't perform for an entire year, their performance was so bad that It was an entire meme.

You're clearly singling imad out, bcci doesn't operate this way, their literally rumors of them leaving kohli out due to sr concerns, they also had no issue completly removing their so called consistent players and taking a brand new overhauled team in 2013 CT where they pretty much replaced half the team and gave rohit the opening position.

kick everyone out who doesn't perform in that series, no golden boy treatments.

Agree esp that Fakhar deserves a boot. He's simply a slightly more consistent version of Afridi. Fails in 10 innings to fire up in one.

 

[Rana]

Be very careful when degrading Imad’s ability based on PSL performances of late.

The same flying Chittar you throw towards him will boomerang back into your faces when using that argument to justify your so called Pakistan superstars

 

[mominsaigol]

Be very careful when degrading Imad’s ability based on PSL performances of late.

The same flying Chittar you throw towards him will boomerang back into your faces when using that argument to justify your so called Pakistan superstars

It's already happened before. Multiple times, I've said it before

 

[stani_pak]

Will be much better than Nawaz, and his economical bowling and solid batting will help, he will be good in Windies/USA conditions.

 

[PakEngFan]

People need to be fair to imad now.

Don't critisize him 24/7, he won't perform in every match but I guarantee that he will perform more then babar and rizwan.

Secondly make him captain and give him a proper run till 2027 to fix pakistan's problems.

Give him full control over every decision to be made. Imad is an educated individual, he'll know what to do.

Yes let's also make him the PM of Pakistan we will be the most successful country in world just with this announcement alone. Imad fans have completely lost it. Babar and rizwan with 1 hand and leg will comfortably outperform Imad.