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Only memories last - What a player Imran Nazir was

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The man was a beast on his day.... The most clean hitter of the ball.... whenever it was his day he used to smack them all over the park...... he was just a treat to watch..... THE BEAST HITTER. Surely was ruined, would have been a MAXWELL had not it been PCB.... Such players just need proper counselling and NOTHING ELSE at all.... u cant teach them how to hit as hitting doesnt need any technique..... ahhhh seriously he was a fantastic to watch on his day.
 
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He was ruined.
This is the mantra of a generation of players that refuse to take responsibility for their shortcomings.
 
He was ruined.
This is the mantra of a generation of players that refuse to take responsibility for their shortcomings.

sir such players are special talents u need to take care of them like other boards do..... player cant do himself anything..... the board needs to manage them.... just look at the way cummins, starc, pattinson are treated by CA and rohit sharmaa (compare his 1st 40 matches and afterwards despite was never dropped ) mohammad shami, umesh yadav (was nothing when he arrived at int scene ) are being treated by BCCI
 
Still remember the thread where a poster was comparing his talent with Virender Sehwag :)))

And to top it off, some posters were advocating how he was more talented than Sehwag.
 
Trash

Just coz you played a few innings where you hit the ball really well and scored quick doesnt make you some talent or solid player

He has afridi's average at a 81 Strike rate and that too as just a SPECIALIST BATSMAN!!! LOL!!
 
He was a very sweet timer of the ball as once Rameez Raja said on air.

Someone I loved watching bat back in the days, But at the same time frustrating batsman.
 
sir such players are special talents u need to take care of them like other boards do..... player cant do himself anything..... the board needs to manage them.... just look at the way cummins, starc, pattinson are treated by CA and rohit sharmaa (compare his 1st 40 matches and afterwards despite was never dropped ) mohammad shami, umesh yadav (was nothing when he arrived at int scene ) are being treated by BCCI
Fantasy. Players need to perform to be looked after
 
Still remember the thread where a poster was comparing his talent with Virender Sehwag :)))

And to top it off, some posters were advocating how he was more talented than Sehwag.

Stats surely dont prove it but guy he was much clean hitter way better than sehwag's slogs.....
 
What a player

Who had only 2 centuries. Both against Zimbabwe

And then 3rd highest score of 80 against Bangladesh who were uber minnows
 
Fantasy. Players need to perform to be looked after

yeah then wat abt rohit sharma and umesh yadav as I mentioned earlier think u didnt read it properly.... read it once again, properly...... rohit was ridiculous during the first phase of his career.... he fidnt perform at all and so was umesh.... wat are ur excuses now.
 
Stats surely dont prove it but guy he was much clean hitter way better than sehwag's slogs.....
Yea, sure. Someone who averages 25 odd in ODI's and 33 odd in Test cricket is certainly more talented tan Sehwag and has more strokes than him :))
 
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Yea, sure. Someone who averages 25 odd in ODI's and 33 odd in Test cricket is certainly more talented tan Sehwag and has more strokes than him :))

Oh common man wen did I say abt talent I am talking abt slogging.... u people are getting onto me widout ACTUALLY reading posts....
 
sehwag and nazir's stats are quite similar in t20s although nazir is nowhere in other 2 formats
 
I remember watching his century against Ambrose and Walsh in 2002. He was pulling them towards square leg with so much ease. I thought he will surpass Saeed Anwar as an opener for Pakistan. Sad how it ended up.
 
He was so crap. Even Yusuf Pathan was miles ahead as a batsman.

yusuf pathan started at a time when t20 took over all the other cricket forms with t20 world cup ipl and other leagues becoming more qnd more popular.... these developments helped his style of playing and dats why he was or perhaps is better.... on the other hand imrans career almost ended when these developments started..... wen he started his career there was no concept whatsoever of t20 cricket..... hope u understand this very fact.
 
Had some good shots. I remember that hundred vs the West Indies early in his career. But mentally he was weak, didn't have the temperament needed at international level. He just couldn't help himself and would get out playing one shot too many.
 
If I am not mistaken, his career ended due to arthritis. He was one beast of a player on his day. I don't think I have seen a better hitter of the ball to date.
 
The first image that comes to my mind when I think of Nazir is a South African pacer bowling at Nazir's rib cage and Nazir giving an easy catch in the 30-yard circle to midwicket.
 
I personally enjoyed him playing. He timed the ball so well. But unfortunately we got to see his better performances in domestics and league cricket in different countries.

He was always exciting. whenever he was on the crease , i used to be glued to the tv set. I have a soft spot for him because when i first watched him he was just 17 i guess and he showed a lot of heart against curtly ambrose and co. That was the time when i first started watching cricket a bit more seriously. He looked so young it was ridiculous. We used to say that "bacha" (child) is at the crease when he was batting. I cant forget The image of him as a kid even now because that is among my first memories of cricket. Gets me a bit emotional that the same kid grew up to become a player with unfulfilled potential, is suffering from arthritis now and cant play pro cricket anymore :( I wish him good luck and hope he enjoys life beyond cricket.
 
Played some cracking shots that perhaps only he could play. But had no defense, temperament or discipline about his batting. Mildly entertaining is how I remember him.
 
For a young teen, Imran was possessed with immense hitting ability. One would assume that in a better, more professional system he would have been groomed into a serious batter who could have possibly ruled world cricket for many years but in the Pakistani set-up he couldn't differentiate himself from the Afridi, Razzaq type sloggers.

He almost took the game away from India in the inaugural world T20 final. If it wasn't for the spectacular direct hit run-out, he would have won it for Pakistan single handedly that day.
 
Compared to his batting intelligence, Umar Akmal is almost the second coming of Albert Einstein ..........
 
Was very talented but he lost his reflexes due to illness .
Would have been a killer t20 player if he didnt fall ill .
Had a 14 ball 50 in a t20 game .
Was different from sehwag . Sehwag was a complete batsman but was more of a boundary hitter while nazir was a six hitter . Sehwag couldnt score 14 ball 50s but neither could nazir score test 300s . So a weird comparison.
 
Compared to his batting intelligence, Umar Akmal is almost the second coming of Albert Einstein ..........

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] This was his biggest let down, Intelligence and Temperament.

Other than that this bloke could play pace, His drives, cuts and pulls were picture perfect BUT was very frustrating batsman with poor shot selection.

Imran Nazir was the biggest talent lost of 2000s who couldn't make it big.
 
Imran Nazir is a friend of one of my first cousins and they used to play cricket together. Its quite sad to hear about Imran these days - my cousin tells me he has severe arthritis.

He had magnificent timing but you can't blame his downfall on anyone - he was someone who just refused to learn. I don't care if you can score the prettiest fastest 20. That's not even going to win you a t20 game.yeh
 
Hit and Miss player,who was not consistent enough, though he didn't justified the talent he possessed.
 
he played one good innings in the ICL in a match that was probably fixed, apart from that below average,his hit and miss ratio was worse than boom boom's and that is saying something.
 
Exceptional talent but wasted. PCB policy of chopping & changing combined with his inconcistency finished him off.



'Only' 81 was good enough back then.

81 was clearly not good enough when you have the same average as Afridi who instead had a SR of 105 at the time.

His days were as rare as afridi if not more and at even slower rates. Of his highest 5 scores, 3/4 are against minnows and only 2 at more than run a ball.

And all this as a specialist batsman!!! Afridi was also averaging 23 but at a much superior SR and was more than a handy bowler

Total liability this guy
 
I remember watching his century against Ambrose and Walsh in 2002. He was pulling them towards square leg with so much ease. I thought he will surpass Saeed Anwar as an opener for Pakistan. Sad how it ended up.

Had some good shots. I remember that hundred vs the West Indies early in his career. But mentally he was weak, didn't have the temperament needed at international level. He just couldn't help himself and would get out playing one shot too many.

That's why you don't base someone's potential on 2-3 innings
 
[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] This was his biggest let down, Intelligence and Temperament.

Other than that this bloke could play pace, His drives, cuts and pulls were picture perfect BUT was very frustrating batsman with poor shot selection.

Imran Nazir was the biggest talent lost of 2000s who couldn't make it big.

Yes a guy lacked temperament and intelligence but is a talent lost

What next? Only if Player X had a good defense and counter attacking play he would be a world class star
 
Yes a guy lacked temperament and intelligence but is a talent lost

What next? Only if Player X had a good defense and counter attacking play he would be a world class star

I'm talking about batting skills and raw ability only brother which was immense. I did say that he did not do justice to that ability, Not even 10%.

He himself is to be blamed for this.

Anyways hopefully he lives a reasonable life.
 
His talent and shot range wasn't the issue, his tempremeant and intelligence was. Always tried to play one shot too many.
 
I personally enjoyed him playing. He timed the ball so well. But unfortunately we got to see his better performances in domestics and league cricket in different countries.

He was always exciting. whenever he was on the crease , i used to be glued to the tv set. I have a soft spot for him because when i first watched him he was just 17 i guess and he showed a lot of heart against curtly ambrose and co. That was the time when i first started watching cricket a bit more seriously. He looked so young it was ridiculous. We used to say that "bacha" (child) is at the crease when he was batting. I cant forget The image of him as a kid even now because that is among my first memories of cricket. Gets me a bit emotional that the same kid grew up to become a player with unfulfilled potential, is suffering from arthritis now and cant play pro cricket anymore :( I wish him good luck and hope he enjoys life beyond cricket.

Very sad how his career turned out but he must share some blame for it too.

Had plenty of chances but forever remained inconsistent. Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Afridi were not paragons of consistency by any means but atleast they did well in Asian conditions.

Could have been a beast in T20's for sure - still remember his innings in the 2007 World T20 final where he tore Sreesanth to pieces also his 72 vs Bangladesh in the 2012 World T20 was an amazing innings to watch.

Wish him the best as well!
 
he was super fun to watch when he fired, unfortunately that wasn't very often

he was mentally weak, and not the smartest cricketer overall. Heck of hitter thou
 
[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] This was his biggest let down, Intelligence and Temperament.

Other than that this bloke could play pace, His drives, cuts and pulls were picture perfect BUT was very frustrating batsman with poor shot selection.

Imran Nazir was the biggest talent lost of 2000s who couldn't make it big.

exactly that is the message of this post..... the PCB also has to be blamed here... the board has to work on such talents. This is something pcb never understands this thing that is why players with special talents are quite often lost..... players themselves are to be blamed as well but cant except anything if the board is so unwilling and careless towards players
 
[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] This was his biggest let down, Intelligence and Temperament.

Other than that this bloke could play pace, His drives, cuts and pulls were picture perfect BUT was very frustrating batsman with poor shot selection.

Imran Nazir was the biggest talent lost of 2000s who couldn't make it big.

he was super fun to watch when he fired, unfortunately that wasn't very often

he was mentally weak, and not the smartest cricketer overall. Heck of hitter thou

cant underdtand in the same post u are making him hero and then degrading to level of zero
 
Still remember the thread where a poster was comparing his talent with Virender Sehwag :)))

And to top it off, some posters were advocating how he was more talented than Sehwag.

He was more talented than the great FTB of India. Nazir didn't live up to his potential but it is idiotic to deny his ability when even Indians were drooling over his strokeplay at the time.
 
Nazir would get those 20s and 30s and give them away but he would look superb while doing it. It's clear that he was very talented but mentally, he just couldn't reign himself in and get those big scores like an Anwar or Sachin.
 
He was more talented than the great FTB of India. Nazir didn't live up to his potential but it is idiotic to deny his ability when even Indians were drooling over his strokeplay at the time.

:)) The guy is not even good enough to carry Sehwag's jocks. Let's forget International cricket for a moment if anyone wants to say that he didn't live to his potential in the grand stage. What happened to him in first class cricket? A third class average of 34 in first class cricket.
 
he was an utter waste and utlimately has himself to blame

however he was unfortunate, should never have been dropped from Tests and he was on course to win Pakistan a t20 world cup but Team Man had other ideas. That moments haunts me more than the Misbah Scoop
 
:)) The guy is not even good enough to carry Sehwag's jocks. Let's forget International cricket for a moment if anyone wants to say that he didn't live to his potential in the grand stage. What happened to him in first class cricket? A third class average of 34 in first class cricket.

He didn't live up to his potential, period. He suffered from brain fades at every level and format of cricket.
 
Agreed, Taufeeq was better

In the end Taufeeq failed just like Imran Nazir. The saddest part is that both could have been world beaters but neither developed. In the case of Taufeeq he regressed from the excellent player we saw in SA in 2003 before the WC to a mediocre, strokless player by the end of his career and its the same about Imran Nazir- looked a world beater in 2000 and as the years went on, he seemed to become brainless by the year. I have often said on this forum that the biggest difference between our players and Indian players is intelligence.
 
Useless and brainless flat footed slogger! massively overrated player.
 
For a young teen, Imran was possessed with immense hitting ability. One would assume that in a better, more professional system he would have been groomed into a serious batter who could have possibly ruled world cricket for many years but in the Pakistani set-up he couldn't differentiate himself from the Afridi, Razzaq type sloggers.

He almost took the game away from India in the inaugural world T20 final. If it wasn't for the spectacular direct hit run-out, he would have won it for Pakistan single handedly that day.

This. People forget that chasing 158, he was batting on 33 off 14 balls and Pakistan were at 53/2 after 5.3 overs (needing 105 off 87 balls) when he ran himself out.

This after he had hit 59 off 41 balls in the semi-final to advance Pakistan.
 
The more I see such posts, the more I believe that, a few innings don't define talent.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT LOOKING GOOD, if you can't survive with the big guns.

This seems an apologist thread and a thread blaming PCB for his demise.

Imran Nazir wasn't better than even Umar Akmal.

And I don't rate Akmal at all.
 
The more I see such posts, the more I believe that, a few innings don't define talent.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT LOOKING GOOD, if you can't survive with the big guns.

This seems an apologist thread and a thread blaming PCB for his demise.

Imran Nazir wasn't better than even Umar Akmal.

And I don't rate Akmal at all.

may be u shud read some comments at the top regarding rohit sharma and u.yadav
just tell me in nutshell abt rohit sharma..... he was regarded as waste by all guys out here and by many indian former players..... his first 50 odd matches were pathetic....no performance at alll.... and now he is a living beast.... same was the case with ajinkya rahane.... umesh yadav and to some extent even virat kohli...... they are all the backbone of indian team right now..... same is the case with many aus, eng, sa, players........ and even mr.smith(if u remember his early days).
how come they hav developed into great players and imran could not....... board has to develop players polish them.....don't blame players everytime except if it's corruption.
 
This. People forget that chasing 158, he was batting on 33 off 14 balls and Pakistan were at 53/2 after 5.3 overs (needing 105 off 87 balls) when he ran himself out.

This after he had hit 59 off 41 balls in the semi-final to advance Pakistan.

Huge moment in the game. Was scary the way he came out all guns blazing. Some great fielding efforts have often been the difference. Still remember Kaif's clutch outfield catch bailing us out at Karachi 2004.
 
Stats surely dont prove it but guy he was much clean hitter way better than sehwag's slogs.....

Yes, but I don't think aesthetics are the reason Sehwag is a great.

Sehwag had two things separating him from the average big hitter. 1) He could keep doing it on and on and on even for very extended periods and 2) He had the courage and belief to keep playing like that no matter what and refusing to compromise.

Lots of people have more talent than Viru, but Viru had a calmness, self-belief and courage that very few people will ever have. His mental game was about as good as it gets and he made a whole career playing the ball on merit almost every single time.
 
This. People forget that chasing 158, he was batting on 33 off 14 balls and Pakistan were at 53/2 after 5.3 overs (needing 105 off 87 balls) when he ran himself out.

This after he had hit 59 off 41 balls in the semi-final to advance Pakistan.

I don't forget it. We all know Pakistan can mess up anything on a cricket field, but when we were watching this, the consensus was that Nazir was taking it away and we simply didn't have enough on the board.
 
In this era of ODIs, this guy would be a hales or guptill level batsman. Similar to Sharjeel.
 
Yes, but I don't think aesthetics are the reason Sehwag is a great.

Sehwag had two things separating him from the average big hitter. 1) He could keep doing it on and on and on even for very extended periods and 2) He had the courage and belief to keep playing like that no matter what and refusing to compromise.

Lots of people have more talent than Viru, but Viru had a calmness, self-belief and courage that very few people will ever have. His mental game was about as good as it gets and he made a whole career playing the ball on merit almost every single time.

Very good post. Sehwag was very cool customer, He had reasonable shot selection and knew what he was doing, How he will take charge onto the bowler.

Nazir lacked this calmness, composure and sense in his batting due to which he wasn't able to make it big.
 
Brilliant player that could of won pakistam the T20 2007 World Cup only to be run out by the useless Hafeez.
 
Was a very good T20 batsman. In T20, averages dont matter. Your strike rate matters. For a Pakistani opener, he was too good. Look at people like Shehzad, Hafeez. They have higher averages but after first 6 overs, our scorecard is 21/1. Id rather have Imran firing us to 52 in 6 overs than Shehzad playing till the end.
 
Was a very good T20 batsman. In T20, averages dont matter. Your strike rate matters. For a Pakistani opener, he was too good. Look at people like Shehzad, Hafeez. They have higher averages but after first 6 overs, our scorecard is 21/1. Id rather have Imran firing us to 52 in 6 overs than Shehzad playing till the end.

the sadness was that there wasn't any concept of t20 when he came and his career was almost over when t20 became boss of cricket.....
 
I think we need to realize that batsman can play good looking shots without being a good player :hafeez
 
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