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[PICTURES] Imam-ul-Haq at ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Will he make any difference for Pakistan Cricket Team?

Imam-ul-Haq at ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Will he make any difference for Pakistan Cricket Team?

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The Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle

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Imam-ul-Haq has been officially named as the replacement for Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan's squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. This decision comes after Fakhar sustained an oblique injury while fielding during a match against New Zealand, which has ruled him out of the tournament.

The ICC's Event Technical Committee approved Imam's inclusion, recognizing his experience as he has played 72 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) with an impressive average of 48.27, including nine centuries. Fakhar expressed disappointment over his injury but remains hopeful for a strong comeback. Pakistan is set to face India in their next crucial match on February 23, and Imam's addition is seen as vital for bolstering the team's performance following their recent loss to New Zealand.

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The Bald Eagle said:
Imam-ul-Haq has been officially named as the replacement for Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan's squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. This decision comes after Fakhar sustained an oblique injury while fielding during a match against New Zealand, which has ruled him out of the tournament.

The ICC's Event Technical Committee approved Imam's inclusion, recognizing his experience as he has played 72 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) with an impressive average of 48.27, including nine centuries. Fakhar expressed disappointment over his injury but remains hopeful for a strong comeback. Pakistan is set to face India in their next crucial match on February 23, and Imam's addition is seen as vital for bolstering the team's performance following their recent loss to New Zealand.

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Amazingly enough he has just scored a century TODAY before boarding to UAE

Imam-ul-Haq stars with a century on Day 2 of the eighth round of the President's Trophy 2025
 
He may be good on difficult tracks and can play at his own pace when the team loses wickets in the powerplay.
 
The only positive is that he's in good form.

Just scored 98 off 94 against SA.
 
Well one thing for sure he is not going to play a enforcer role now it's more pressure on babar to get his act together if we are going to progress any further in this tournament looking at today's match I think we have about 30 to 40 percent chance on that track it didn't look complete flat bed like one in karachi we might make a match of it after all I hope so.
 
kingusama92 said:
The only positive is that he's in good form.

Just scored 98 off 94 against SA.
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Has he worked on his dot ball issue ? Most of our batters can't nudge a back off length ball at 4th stump to third man. Batsmen in 2000s could do that easily !
 
In the last 10 years power play strike rate of Pakistan players

Sharjeel khan 102
Fakhar Zaman 84
Saim Ayub 80
Babar Azam 73
Imam ul haq 69
 
Being out of the ODI set up for a while & your first game back is against India in the a tournament hosted by your nation.

Good luck lol
 
TheSultan said:
So you had 5 accumulators and one attacking batsman, and now you’ve replaced the attacking batsman with another accumulator. Do these guys get high on “accumulation and anchoring” or something.
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All are the seeds of Misbah school of thought. The same guy who was given Hall of Fame by PCB before many other deserving players. The same guy whose favorites such as Azhar Ali and Shafiq are at the helm of selection affairs. The deep seated rot created by Misbah would need a Murd e Mujahid to be completely removed and i dont see anyone with that kind of resolve.
 
Dot ball percentages of Pak openers in powerplay

Imam ul haq 69%
Saim Ayub 68%
Abdullah Shafique 67%
Fakhar zaman 63%
Sharjeel 61%

Around 60% is acceptable

Gill 61%
Travis Head 58%

Either you are a six hitter like Rohit sharma or a strike rotator. If you are not both then there is problem. Imam fails to meet both. Neither a six hitter nor a strike rotator.


Boundary percentage in powerplay

Sharjeel 18.1%
Fakhar Zaman 13.2%
Saim Ayub 13.3%
Abdulla shafique 9.3%
Imam ul haq 9.1%
 
Greenstorm said:
Has he worked on his dot ball issue ? Most of our batters can't nudge a back off length ball at 4th stump to third man. Batsmen in 2000s could do that easily !
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It's hard to tell because the quality in List A tournaments is mediocre.

He averaged 53 at a strike rate of 90.98 in the recent tournament.

I don't rate him much but I suppose he's better than Saud as an opener and will have experience handling the pressure of tournament matches.
 
3rd best Pakistani opener after Fakhar and Saim. Should've been brought in ahead of mediocre Saud anyway.
 
Haters gonna hate. But the fact is Imam saves his wicket and plays the anchor innings. Now if the selectors get smart, I think they should send Usman Khan as the opener with Imam. Give Usman Khan the target to go for big hits in the first 10 overs, and ask Imam to play the anchor role.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Haters gonna hate. But the fact is Imam saves his wicket and plays the anchor innings. Now if the selectors get smart, I think they should send Usman Khan as the opener with Imam. Give Usman Khan the target to go for big hits in the first 10 overs, and ask Imam to play the anchor role.
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If he is going to play he should be paired up with someone who can take risks at the cost of losing his wicket. Wonder if Salman agha can do that role. But back end acceleration will be missed in case if he gets out
 
FearlessRoar said:
Haters gonna hate. But the fact is Imam saves his wicket and plays the anchor innings. Now if the selectors get smart, I think they should send Usman Khan as the opener with Imam. Give Usman Khan the target to go for big hits in the first 10 overs, and ask Imam to play the anchor role.
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They are definitely not playing Usman against India in a must-win game.

Team management doesn’t have the guts to try this out sorry to say.

They panicked and sent an injured Fakhar to bat, knowing full well he would struggle. Just so he could hit a few boundaries to take pressure off our supposed ‘king’.
 
Absolute waste of a spot. I am just shocked at the incompetence of the selection committee including Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Aqib Javed. We should have picked Suffiyan Muqeem.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Haters gonna hate. But the fact is Imam saves his wicket and plays the anchor innings. Now if the selectors get smart, I think they should send Usman Khan as the opener with Imam. Give Usman Khan the target to go for big hits in the first 10 overs, and ask Imam to play the anchor role.
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How many anchors do we need at the top i.e. Imam, Babar, Rizwan? Fakhar's loss means there is no one to exploit the powerplays. Babar doesn't have the guts to try to hit over the infield when faced with a disciplined bowling attack and an excellent fielding unit.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
Trying to find some positive for his selection, maybe @Mamoon can help us.

He’s a decent fielder.

He can hit the ball with the bat.

I’m struggling now.
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He can really transform this team. Let's see what he brings to the table.

1. Incredible efficiency: Imam has 72 appearances in 72 matches.

2. Adaptability: He comes out to bat. Whether it's a mamba or a turner. He faces the bowler :imam

3. Champion mindset: Same Amount of worldcups won as bradman and gary sobers combined.

4. Ruthlessness vs Arch Rivals: Same amount of Ashes wins as Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli combined.
 
Pakistani management and team are so god damn daft.

Fakhar is an aggressor, if they couldnt find a like for like replacement in the whole country. They could have simply put Kamran Ghulam up top and gotten sufiyan instead of imam.

Replace Fakhar with KG, Saud with Usman, Sufiyan with Tayyab.
 
we will be hearing again from Imam and his stupid fans after he is dropped again
RidiculousMan said:
He's an upgrade over Saud currently. But Pakistan still need an aggressive option alongside him up top.
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u fans just dont seem to understand, we always choose the bad player in the first occasion so that he is so terrible and PCB bring back the sifarshi/parchi to replace him. See recent examples of Azam Khan and Usman Khan as the wicket keeper options. Iftikhar Ahmed Khushdil Shah as the power hitters although we know Irfan Khan jnr has a higher ceiling like Mohd Haris and Aamir Jamal. But they are nowhere to be found. Mohd Wasim was the best fast bowler for Pak in last 50 over WC he is not even in reserves but in reserves we will keep an option that does not threaten our main bowlers
 
Imam's numbers...

In the UAE - 48.50 with SR of 71.21

In Pakistan - 57.06 with SR of 90.75

He can score runs but that strike rate is terrible in the UAE. The numbers at home are pretty solid though.
 
Slim said:
All are the seeds of Misbah school of thought. The same guy who was given Hall of Fame by PCB before many other deserving players. The same guy whose favorites such as Azhar Ali and Shafiq are at the helm of selection affairs. The deep seated rot created by Misbah would need a Murd e Mujahid to be completely removed and i dont see anyone with that kind of resolve.
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100%, this all started with Misbah.
 
kingusama92 said:
Imam's numbers...

In the UAE - 48.50 with SR of 71.21

In Pakistan - 57.06 with SR of 90.75

He can score runs but that strike rate is terrible in the UAE. The numbers at home are pretty solid though.
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Fraud numbers against B/C teams.
 
MNCGA! Make 90s cricket great Again
The Bald Eagle said:
Imam-ul-Haq has been officially named as the replacement for Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan's squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. This decision comes after Fakhar sustained an oblique injury while fielding during a match against New Zealand, which has ruled him out of the tournament.

The ICC's Event Technical Committee approved Imam's inclusion, recognizing his experience as he has played 72 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) with an impressive average of 48.27, including nine centuries. Fakhar expressed disappointment over his injury but remains hopeful for a strong comeback. Pakistan is set to face India in their next crucial match on February 23, and Imam's addition is seen as vital for bolstering the team's performance following their recent loss to New Zealand.

View attachment 151073
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Slap me with the cricket bat! I had no idea we had a whole squad of Bradmans just waiting to step up!

Ifit average of 118? lol!
 
You never know. Imam may return with a bang.

He has been out of the team for a while. He may want to prove a point. :inti
 
Rana said:
Bro he has been brought in with the vision of becoming Warner or DeQock for Pakistan
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I've seen his domestic form, He's still batting like molasses even against crap bowling.
 
TheSultan said:
So you had 5 accumulators and one attacking batsman, and now you’ve replaced the attacking batsman with another accumulator. Do these guys get high on “accumulation and anchoring” or something.
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UAE conditions are most suitable for pakistan batsman. 270 is winning scores so they will love it.

:kp
 
Imam has a good chance to revive his career. In absence of Fakhar, there are not many options left but Abdullah, Usman, Huraira etc will always be in contention.

Saim's return will also be important for him.
 
He is consistent , but certainly lacks the power game.

The accumulators in top 5 , have to think out of box here , and try and cut the dot balls . If you can cut the dot balls , and even get singles in them , you can get 275 on those conditions . Its not rocket science.

Game awareness will be key for Pakistan team here.
 
He's a stat padder of the highest order. It's literally hard to recall any crucial or quality innings from him in a match of importance. Once in a while he might accumulate to some useful runs but you'll never get a match winning knock from him and that's because his play style is from the 80s & 90s. Unless he's completely revamped his game and his mentality to actually play some semblance of attacking cricket, it won't be long until he's exposed again.
 
Imam wouldn't have been a bad pick if Fakhar or Saim had been playing. ODI is his strongest format and he has been a decent foil for a firing Fakhar in the past. But with no Saim and Fakhar, and Babar being in no mood to change his game this is powerplay suicide. It would have still made some sense if we had middle order power hitters or in form bowling but with none of those elements in place this selection makes zero sense, like so many others. I was certain they would go for Huraira after his century the other day.
 
Selectors trapped themselves by picking one opener to begin with. Had no choice.

Opening is not easy and needs someone thst has done it

He should have been in the team from day 1
 
Shafique could have been brought back. He has starting trouble. But among the available guys he is somewhat okay. Not the best choice. But he may have liked Pak pitches. Pakistan should also have a method in constructing ODI innings. Not everybody can go and consolidate.
 
Sachin fan said:
Is this the same Sharjeel who couldn't buy a run against legend bowlers and was pwned by the likes of 40+ year old Anureet Singh and Vinay Kumar just few months ago?

You think he will perform against international bowlers?
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Shameless people want an old fixer back in the team, just because he was somewhat half decent a decade ago.
 
Sachin fan said:
Is this the same Sharjeel who couldn't buy a run against legend bowlers and was pwned by the likes of 40+ year old Anureet Singh and Vinay Kumar just few months ago?

You think he will perform against international bowlers?
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20-2 and you have the audacity to come up with Vinay Kumar?
 
If pakistan are to win this match I predict it will be because of Imam’s contribution upfront. I can feel it in the air, he will play a big role in the India game.
 
Mohammad Hafeez, while speaking on a show on a media platform:

"He [Imam-Ul-Haq] is a very good player, an excellent player with strong performances in ODIs. The biggest question mark over his game, which he needs to address, is his strike rate. When he scores his first 50 runs, he takes his innings too deep, which affects the intent required in modern-day cricket as an opener."

"I am sure that over the past year, after losing his place, he must have learned a lot of things. I wish him all the best because Pakistan needs his good runs. He has the ability to perform at the international level and has already produced great performances in ODIs."
 
FearlessRoar said:
Mohammad Hafeez, while speaking on a show on a media platform:

"He [Imam-Ul-Haq] is a very good player, an excellent player with strong performances in ODIs. The biggest question mark over his game, which he needs to address, is his strike rate. When he scores his first 50 runs, he takes his innings too deep, which affects the intent required in modern-day cricket as an opener."

"I am sure that over the past year, after losing his place, he must have learned a lot of things. I wish him all the best because Pakistan needs his good runs. He has the ability to perform at the international level and has already produced great performances in ODIs."
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HAHA

see this is Pak cricket, which great performances he as in ODIs?
 
Imam-ul-Haq joined the Pakistan squad for training in Dubai.

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xF7nZqQ.jpg
 
It's Imam's last chance to prove his worth because maintaining a healthy average alone won't help in modern day cricket. He needs to score runs at a better strike rate.
 
Such players doesn't make any difference they just fill the numbers
 
They should’ve given Usman Khan a chance. He struggled away on high-bounce and extremely slow pitches, but he’s never been tested in Pakistan, where he averages 50 at strike rate of 160 in the PSL.
 
emranabbas said:
They should’ve given Usman Khan a chance. He struggled away on high-bounce and extremely slow pitches, but he’s never been tested in Pakistan, where he averages 50 at strike rate of 160 in the PSL.
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You can't really use performances in T20 leagues as a barometer of ability.
Although I think Usman Khan has done pretty well in list A cricket too, so I wouldn't mind him playing but only to team up with Imam as openers. They would make better openers than Babar anyways.
 
Look this is an opportunity for him , Imam needs to take it as a challenge. You have to go out and enjoy yourself and play the ball on merit .

He needs to answer his critics with the bat, as a cricketer , you need to take this on,
 
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