Imam-ul-Haq's selection is nepotistic, but we need to back him now

[shockbound]

Yes he scored selfish runs. Yes he is too slow. But do we got better option? Everyone thinks of options warming bench as second coming of Bradman while there's none. We need to go with best possible options. Yes Imam may have got p-a-r-c-h-i among top 3-4 because of his connections but his stay so far is due to his own merit (which is set too low though).

 

[MRSN]

Yes he scored selfish runs. Yes he is too slow. But do we got better option? Everyone thinks of options warming bench as second coming of Bradman while there's none. We need to go with best possible options. Yes Imam may have got p-a-r-c-h-i among top 3-4 because of his connections but his stay so far is due to his own merit (which is set too low though).

Not low by Pakistani standards who habe been producing hacks like Fakher, Farhan,Awais Zia and inconsistent batsmen like Shehzad. By Pakistani standards he had an outstanding start.He has justified his selection. Unless we get better players Imam is here to stay.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

I don't like the guy's personality. His SR is 5-10 points too slow. He has his problems.

But, we must not forget about what happened in the Asia Cup, and then the SA series that followed. When no one (including Fakhar, even Babar to an extent) stepped up, Imam did. Yes, we scored 350 today, but our line-up has generally been brittle and Imam has played a role in solidifying that.

I understand that in the past we used the same excuse for the likes of Shehzad/Azhar/Misbah, but 1. Their SR was a good 5-10 points lower than Imam's, and 2. They didn't average 50+, that too after playing in countries like SA (where he was our best batsman) and now in England, where he has been getting starts.

We've always talked about having a stable opening pair, preferably a dasher with a solid partner that puts a high prize on his wicket, and now we finally have that. Ideally, Abid can play and have a higher SR, along with giving us a right-left opening combo, but Imam has proven himself and we know what we are getting with him. It would've been a different case had we tried Abid earlier, but it's a little late now and heading into the WC, a stable top 3 can do wonders.

We have strokemakers in Fakhar, Babar, Haris, Hafeez/Asif, and one anchor batsman who is consistent and can help lay a strong base fits in well. I'm down to play Abid over him, but it wouldn't make sense this close to the WC; realistically, Imam will play, and that gives our top 3 stability so I don't mind.

He's 100% a nepotistic selection and that'll always hold true, but he hasn't fared as bad as we are making it seem. With our batting history, Imam is fine for our side, as long as he can even keep an SR of 80-85, which he just marginally falls outside of.

From the 1st to 2nd ODI, there has been improvement in his SR as well.

Let's now back Imam. Him & Fakhar is our best and safest opening partnership for the WC.

Dear Square Drive sahib !



Either you do not know the meaning of term Nepotism or you did not do enough research before making this thread or you watch Tanveer Ahmed and Ary News far too much. Yes Ary the owner of Karachi Kings and one of the proxy of Pakistani Estab.



Let me educate you and others who have such believes about Imam ul Haq.




1. As someone who followed Pakistan Under 19 World Cup 2014 I would like to remind you that Imam ul Haq was the highest scorer from Pakistani side where he outscored Sami Asmal and promising future Pakistani player (InshaAllah) Saud Shakeel. He scored 382 runs


Nepotism cannot make you highest rungetter for your country in ICC under 19 World Cup.




2. HBL visited Afghanistan in 2016. That team had likes of Nauman Anwar, Hassan Raza, Imran Farhat and Rameez Aziz. Although you or anyone can contend that ACB team is a weak team but they tested there future players and it was an equal opportunity for all HBL players and not just Imam ul Haq.



Imam ul Haq scores 650 runs in 6 matches and was way ahead of all other players. Clearly a level above all other.



Nepotism cannot help you to achieve that.




3. In QEA 2016-2017 prior to his selection for Pakistan Imam ul Haq was the only Under 25 Opener to score more than 848 runs in that FC season. He was at number 3 amongst top run getters. He was preferred over Asif Zakir because he was 10 years younger than Asif Zakir who made 5 more runs than Asif Zakir. Imam had better technique and fitness aswell.


Pakistan required new blood in Test and Odi Cricket and Imam ul Haq got picked on Merit.




To say that Imam ul Haq’s selection was 100 % nepotistic is 100 % far from reality. Unfortunate but bitter Truth.



In the Test match vs Ireland (Imam’s first) Imam ul Haq scored 74 out of 160 runs. Pretty sure if Imam did not score 74 while chasing 160 only than Babar Azam’s 58 would have been short and Pakistan would have lost to Ireland. Although after 10 Test’s Imam averages 28.4 only mainly due to very difficult batting tour of South Africa against top booing unit he has potential and the skill set to average 40 or 45 plus InshaAllah after 25 Tests provided he stays grounded and improves his game further.


In Odi’s Yes he needs to improve his SR aswell as Strike Rotation but with 7 Odi hundreds after 30 odd matches and being the 2nd fastest to 1000 runs in Odi Cricket he has a bright future ahead of him. InshaAllah. Needs to keep up the hard work.


In ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 He was second highest rungetter for Pakistan only behind Babar Azam and even if Haris played all matches Imam would have been amongst top 3 rungetters for Pakistan.



Lastly He has impressed former International Players and Current commentators from other countries aswell. Technically he just needs to make sure that he does not go too across against pacers. Mohammad Yousuf used to do the same and used to get bowled and lbw too often by pacers capable of bring the ball back into him but later with right guidance and coaching he corrected this technical glitch and became the player to score most test runs in a calendar year. And he needs to improve his fitness and fielding aswel. All this will make him a better player. InshaAllah.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION]


Brother can you kindly fix the stats after each relevant point and also edit post to change bring to bringing in last paragraph ?


Thanks in advance. Kind Regards.

 

[Mueez]

Breath-taking drives by Imam. People said he didn't have an offside game they need to look at this.

Exactly it really is breath-taking.

 

[Realromeo]

Avg of 55 at SR of 80 and it isn't good enough ? LOL.

 

[Nasty Naz]

I criticize Imam plenty for playing too slow but its hard to deny he hasn't been good.

Would it be great, if he had a 50 average and a 90+ SR? Sure, and then he would be one of the best players in the world. He has been pretty good and I think people also need to keep in mind the disastrous openers we've had for years. People are talking like we have some world class opener that's being blocked or something.

He has flaws and he definitely has to work on them but he's also very young into his career. He needs to develop a few variety of shots in his arsenal so he doesn't get bogged down too much and he does makes sense on a team like Pakistan whose often is unreliable and full of collapses.

The core of this team is very young and they did perform fairly well in WC (with seniors being huge letdowns).

Just an example, but David Warner through first 38 innings:

29.81 average 80.58 SR. There's plenty of players that come up initially and struggle before making adjustments and improve.

Rohit Sharma first 38 innings: 24.82 AVG 72.24 SR with 0 hundreds and 4 fifty's.

People need some perspective and patience, to be honest.

 

[Artaxerxes]

All the top commentators esp English ones think Imam is a very good player.He more suited to test cricket but it is worth having a player like him to anchor the innings.Joe Root for England has a similar role.If the openers get out early Root is there to steady the innings.Pakistan doesn't have ODI openers who can play attacking cricket and not lose their wickets quickly.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I criticize Imam plenty for playing too slow but its hard to deny he hasn't been good.

Would it be great, if he had a 50 average and a 90+ SR? Sure, and then he would be one of the best players in the world. He has been pretty good and I think people also need to keep in mind the disastrous openers we've had for years. People are talking like we have some world class opener that's being blocked or something.

He has flaws and he definitely has to work on them but he's also very young into his career. He needs to develop a few variety of shots in his arsenal so he doesn't get bogged down too much and he does makes sense on a team like Pakistan whose often is unreliable and full of collapses.

The core of this team is very young and they did perform fairly well in WC (with seniors being huge letdowns).

Just an example, but David Warner through first 38 innings:

29.81 average 80.58 SR. There's plenty of players that come up initially and struggle before making adjustments and improve.

Rohit Sharma first 38 innings: 24.82 AVG 72.24 SR with 0 hundreds and 4 fifty's.

People need some perspective and patience, to be honest.

Sorry but when warner and Rohit started S/R around the 80 mark was seen as pretty quick scoring, comparing how ODI cricket is been played now.

Secondly Imam doesnt have the array of strokes warner and rohit had when they started.

Pretty poor comparison really.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Sorry but when warner and Rohit started S/R around the 80 mark was seen as pretty quick scoring, comparing how ODI cricket is been played now.

Secondly Imam doesnt have the array of strokes warner and rohit had when they started.

Pretty poor comparison really.

Most of Warner's stats are from 2010-2012, not the 1990's. 80 SR back then wasn't anything impressive of the sort.

And this is not a comparison or to even suggest he'll be as good as them. It is to simple state that players in their international career often struggle initially and are poor at first before making adjustments and improving. Maybe Imam never makes adjustments and never improves his SR but the point is that he's young and skilled enough to do so.

 

[srh]

should only play Tests