Hextro
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Good batsman but have the same criticism as everyone else, Imam needs to improve his power hitting.
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[VIDEOS] Imam-ul-Haq - Essential or a liability in ODIs?
- Thread starter Saj
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Hextro
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The least talented cricket nation ever has a positive win/loss ratio against a nation that has over 6 times the population. If this guy considers Imam talented then oh boy we're in for a treat.
I think it's hard work more than talent.
Hextro
Local Club Star
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Imam is in the same category as Shan, hard worker but not talented. But that doesn't mean that Imam isn't a good batsman.
He is a good batesman and rightly so should be opening in odis.
Hextro
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Two back to back hundreds don't lie.
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- Joined
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Imam-ul-Haq last 5 ODI scores:<br><br>65<br>89*<br>106<br>103<br>56<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1534588495590719489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Prince of Pakistan
ODI Debutant
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He has improved a lot from the Mickey days. Deserves to be there. Also Pak has no other replacement in either tests or ODI's.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most consecutive 50+ scores in ODIs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvsWI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvsWI</a> <a href="https://t.co/Tt6tYvFP7v">pic.twitter.com/Tt6tYvFP7v</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1535962041923645440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Imam reaches number 2 in latest ODI rankings
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The short ball accounting for Imam
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Amjid Javed
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Can't play short ball to save his life.
jeeteshssaxena
T20I Debutant
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He reminds me of Ganguly, somewhat inferior to him but definitely plays like him.
If only he can mimic Ganguly's success in test cricket he would turn out to be a good investment.
If only he can mimic Ganguly's success in test cricket he would turn out to be a good investment.
W63L35
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What an insult to Master player Ganguly. This guy isn't good enough to tie the shoe lace of him. Another over-hyped talentless hack. Its a shame that his uncle is Inzamam. Otherwise he shouldn't be no-where near the team.
Amjid Javed
PakPassion's 100,000 posts man
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Doesn't appear to have worked on shortfall at all, his feet are always stuck in cement and his heads never in line to play shortfall that's why he has zero control on the shot.
Also it's apparent in ODIs imam takes zero risks in PP and just wastes the 10 overs at start, Fakhar is a slow starter as well so Pakistan rarely get off to a flyer. Batting most of an inns with zero risks until end of an inns when you play a few big shots to boost your strike rate is zero benefit to team.
Pretty much anytime imam shows aggression or tries to play unorthodox shots in PP he gets out.
If Imaam is a hack then everyone is hack.
gazza619
Test Debutant
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Imam’s biggest problem is that he forgets his limitations and tries to play beyond his capabilities.
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Imam speaking in an interview:
“We had already started thinking about the 2023 World Cup during the 2019 World Cup. Everyone wants to beat India in India and perform well"
“The competition for the opening spot is a good thing for the side. When you see players come into the team with a new batting style, it improves your own performance. These youngsters bat with a fearless approach in PSL as well, which is great to see. It also helps us, who have been playing for six to seven years, realise that we need to improve our game"
“Playing fast bowlers in the nets helps a lot since it makes things easier for us in international cricket. During international matches we only face express pace when Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins or Lockie Ferguson are bowling. However, in the nets we face bowlers bowling at 140kph on a daily basis"
“Our preparations for the upcoming World Cup are pretty good. We have formed a balanced side, which is playing regularly. We will get eight matches before the Asia Cup, which is adequate in my opinion"
“We also have time to prepare for the New Zealand series, which we will use to play practice matches"
“We had already started thinking about the 2023 World Cup during the 2019 World Cup. Everyone wants to beat India in India and perform well"
“The competition for the opening spot is a good thing for the side. When you see players come into the team with a new batting style, it improves your own performance. These youngsters bat with a fearless approach in PSL as well, which is great to see. It also helps us, who have been playing for six to seven years, realise that we need to improve our game"
“Playing fast bowlers in the nets helps a lot since it makes things easier for us in international cricket. During international matches we only face express pace when Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins or Lockie Ferguson are bowling. However, in the nets we face bowlers bowling at 140kph on a daily basis"
“Our preparations for the upcoming World Cup are pretty good. We have formed a balanced side, which is playing regularly. We will get eight matches before the Asia Cup, which is adequate in my opinion"
“We also have time to prepare for the New Zealand series, which we will use to play practice matches"
JibranAnsari
ODI Captain
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Why india question has to be asked is beyond my understanding. We need to come out of this india centric approach.
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gazza619
Test Debutant
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Imam is really needed to make big scores. I notice he tries to bat in a T20 mode sometimes in an ODI which often is his downfall.
Play within your limits Imam striking at 80-90 and you will do fine.
Play within your limits Imam striking at 80-90 and you will do fine.
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He's still underappreciated as an ODI opener. He's been in monster form and will be a key cog at the WC
offstump
First Class Player
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He’s the perfect sub continental opener. The stats don’t lie, he’s a scoring machine and has been working on improving his strike rate as well.
Suleiman
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One of the few players who I’ve abstained from talking about recently. My opinion has changed about him from when he first started to now, but I will post the final answer after the World Cup, fans may have been anticipating a response on the Imam Conundrum. Just wait a bit longer, and I shall give the post in due time.
ads101
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Our best opener in ODIs. Consistently gets opening starts. Better than Fakhar.
Mamoon
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Imam has been an excellent ODI player since day one and he is finding his feet in Test cricket too. He should never play second fiddle to the mediocre Masood.
Anyone who criticized Imam at any point and felt that he was not good enough for Pakistan had no idea what he/she was talking about.
Anyone who criticized Imam at any point and felt that he was not good enough for Pakistan had no idea what he/she was talking about.
YousafTheBeast
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Keep him out of the LOI format, he’s more suited for Tests.
There’s no space for him in the ODI squad with the emergence of Ayub.
Fakhar and Ayub should be the opening combo, with Babar and Haris at 3 and 4.
Anyone that thinks Imam has been an excellent ODI player since day 1 should understand that even Masood would’ve been averaging 50+ if he had started his career against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia C.
There’s no space for him in the ODI squad with the emergence of Ayub.
Fakhar and Ayub should be the opening combo, with Babar and Haris at 3 and 4.
Anyone that thinks Imam has been an excellent ODI player since day 1 should understand that even Masood would’ve been averaging 50+ if he had started his career against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia C.
Mamoon
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Masood played 5 ODIs against a weakened Australian attack in the UAE and did nothing. Imam scored a century on his debut.
It is about taking chances. A pathetic player like Masood has had too many undeserving chances in Test cricket but thankfully, Imam has kept the door firmly shut for him in ODIs.
Imam is no Rohit Sharma but he is comfortably a better all-round batsman than Masood with a lot more potential.
Ayub has done nothing to replace a batsman who averages 50 and is ranked in the top 10 off ICC one day rankings .
It’s way to early to induct Ayub In a World Cup year and disrupt a very successful top 3, which statistically in almost every aspect is one of the best in the world .
Imam compliments Fakhar and Babar , and his approach actually puts less pressure on babar, and whilst he could be striking at 85 plus instead of 82 it fits the dynamics of our team quite well.
Let Ayub ease himself in over a gradual process, depending on how her performs over the next 12-18 months .
YousafTheBeast
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Sri Lanka - 100 (125)
Sri Lanka - 2 (3)
Sri Lanka - 45* (64)
New Zealand - 2 (11)
Zimbabwe *
Zimbabwe *
Zimbabwe *
Zimbabwe *
Zimbabwe *
Hong Kong *
India - 2 (7)
Afghanistan *
India - 10 (20)
Bangladesh *
New Zealand - 34 (46)
New Zealand - 16 (34)
South Africa - 86 (101)
South Africa - 5 (14)
South Africa - 101 (116)
South Africa - 71 (91)
South Africa - 8 (10)
Australia B - 17 (27)
Australia B - 0 (5)
Australia B - 46 (72)
England - 42* (68)
England - 35 (44)
England - 151 (131) - probz best inns
England - 6* (20)
West Indies - 2 (11)
England - 44 (58)
Australia - 53 (75)
India - 7 (18)
South Africa - 44 (58)
New Zealand - 19 (29)
Afghanistan *
Bangladesh *
Sri Lanka - 31 (41)
Zimbabwe *
Zimbabwe *
Zimbabwe *
South Africa - 70 (80)
South Africa - 5 (10)
South Africa - 57 (73)
England B - 0 (1)
England B - 1 (2)
England B - 56 (73)
Australia C - 103 (96)
Australia C - 106 (97)
Australia C - 89* (100)
West Indies - 65 (71)
West Indies - 72 (72)
West Indies - 62 (68)
Netherlands *
Netherlands *
New Zealand - 11 (14)
New Zealand - 6 (12)
Out of his first 10 ODI’s, 6 were against minnows, 3 against a weak SL team and 1 in the Top 5. You’re right, he took his chances, but let’s not make it look like he didn’t have the easiest starts to an international career. His mamu put it on the plate for him, a player averaging mid 30’s in List A with a low strike rate goes on to average 50+ in international level sums it up really.
Shan Masood is arguably the worst player to have ever played for Pakistan, but I’m sure even he’d perform against Zimbabwe, Australia B+C, England B and all the other teams outside of the top 5.
Imam has been very very fortunate, even when he plays against the Top 5, half of those are probably against their second or third xi.
YousafTheBeast
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His average is inflated, ICC rankings are meaningless. I could show you a player from an associate team that could be ranked higher than someone like Buttler or Roy etc, it doesn’t mean that player is better than Roy and Buttler.
I’d rather have a player that can average 30-40 at a strike rate over 95 than someone with a very high average but with a low strike rate.
Abdullah Shafique is another contender for Imam’s spot.
Having a youngster play in the WC could actually benefit us, there would be no pressure on him since his career is just starting, he’s not going to play any selfish innings. Imagine Fakhar’s opening partner scoring 40 odd off 20-30 balls in the first 10 overs, now that would take a lot more pressure of Babar and Fakhar.
Mamoon
ATG
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It is not easy to score runs with such consistency. He is not the only Pakistani batsmen to have played against these teams. In the same period, Fakhar showed a lot of inconsistency.
Imam has been the most consistent ODI batsman for Pakistan since his debut.
Another important point that his critics seem to ignore is that it takes a lot of mental strength to block out all the abuse and criticism and focus on your game.
Since his debut up until the Australian series last year where he finally won over most of his critics by achieving the number 2 ranking in ODIs and the parchi tag died out, he has been criticized and trolled left right and center.
From 2017 to 2022, he has been insulted and humiliated not only in grounds but also on social media and even in public places. Yet, he was able to ignore all of that and continue to score runs and focus on his game.
It takes a very special and determined character to do this because a lesser person could have easily been overwhelmed by all the hate and criticism. Imam deserves respect for this.
As far as the parchi tag is concerned, the connection with Inzamam has done him more harm than good. If he wasn’t related to him, he would not have copped so much criticism.
Would he have made his debut in 2017 if Inzamam wasn’t the selector? Probably not, but he has proved his worth over the years and the parchi tag has fizzled out over the last year.
People need to understand something about nepotism. It is not a problem if it puts the right person in the right job. Merit doesn’t always work.
Imam has proved that he was the right player. He is better than his competition and no one else could have scored runs with such consistency over this period.
If it wasn’t for nepotism, the most successful FC batsman in Pakistan history (Fawad Alam) would not have played a single FC match because he would not catch the eye of any selector in trials and talent hunt programs.
The only reason he got into the system with this technique is because of his father.
The point is that parchi system will always be there and it is not always negative or bad, and it certainly wasn’t in Imam’s case. Well done to Inzamam for fast tracking this excellent young opener who will go down as a Pakistani great.
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Many people leaving him out of their teams for the WC, but he is a must IMO. Not everything is T20, not every ground is a pancake. He's earned his place with his performances.
cricketkashmir
Tape Ball Star
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Imam is a must in ODIs. The stability he brings is pivotal for a team like Pakistan. I would rather think about the other opener. Imam's place is merited and fixed
msb314
ODI Debutant
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Imam needs to be the first name on the ODI team sheet for many more years to come.
/ close thread
/ close thread
YousafTheBeast
T20I Debutant
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When England got knocked out by Bangladesh in the World Cup back in 2015, they hit rock bottom.
How did they rebuild their team? Not by picking lads who have a strike rate at a low 80 that’s all I know.
Replace him with any player that’s capable of averaging 35-40 with a strike rate over 95. That player will achieve less personal milestones, but will achieve more for the team than someone who goes less than a run a ball.
How did they rebuild their team? Not by picking lads who have a strike rate at a low 80 that’s all I know.
Replace him with any player that’s capable of averaging 35-40 with a strike rate over 95. That player will achieve less personal milestones, but will achieve more for the team than someone who goes less than a run a ball.
Any players you would suggest ?
YousafTheBeast
T20I Debutant
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Said Ayub - he’s capable of playing ODI’s. Everyone saying he’s a T20 specialist because they’ve only seen him play in PSL. Averaged 46 @ 107 in the most recent Pakistan Cup.
Tayyab Tahir - play him at 3 and open with Rizwan if Haris and Ayub aren’t picked.
Sharjeel Khan - Pakistan Cup
It’s not necessary to replace Imam with another opener, we can be flexible with the opening pair to accommodate the likes of Tahir and Haris
Fakhar
Ayub
Tahir
Babar
Haris
Ifthikar
This would be my first choice top 6, no space for Imam.
Fakhar
Sharjeel
Tahir
Babar
Haris
Ifthikar
This would be my second choice top 6, no space for Imam.
Fakhar
Rizwan
Tahir
Babar
Haris
Ifthikar
This would be my 3rd choice top 6, no imam.
We need to move on from the like of Imam and Masood.
The first and third team is fine but no way would I pick Sharjeel.Tahir was awful against Afganistan he had no clue even thou its a different format.i will still pick Imaam he has shown improvements in strike rate last year.
YousafTheBeast
T20I Debutant
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I promise you Imam ul Haq would’ve failed against the best spin attack in conditions suited to them.
You can’t write a player off after 1 series, especially someone that’s been knocking on the door for a while.
Instead of being content with a tuktuk, you should be looking for better alternatives.
Yes I agree we need to look for alternative but they must be a good enough in the field.
daytrader
ODI Debutant
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Imam is a must for the ODI WC. Hopefully he can find form and get some runs this series
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Excellent stuff in the 1st ODI
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Brilliant knock of 60 today
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90 in the 3rd ODI - jury still out if he could have played it quicker!?
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Amjid Javed
PakPassion's 100,000 posts man
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Usual selfish stats padding effort, glad he didn't get a 100. His shameful approach deserved him to fall short.
gazza619
Test Debutant
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Couldnt agree more
MRSN
T20I Star
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It's amazing to have batting talents full of selfish players. It's not the kind of cricket fans will waste their time for. We really should get a move on from tuk tuk one dimensional type of batting. We are still playing outdated cricket. Even this NZ B team scored 340 in the last game on their away tour.
Mamoon
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A quality innings by one of the best ODI players in the world and one of the best ODI openers in Pakistan history.
People can keep crying but Imam will keep scoring runs.
People can keep crying but Imam will keep scoring runs.
Prince of Pakistan
ODI Debutant
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If only he can improve his gameplay against short bowling. He will be unstoppable. Often gets out pulling/hooking against genuine fast bowlers.
Mamoon
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He will improve. He is hardworking and mentally tough. He has greatly improved his strike rotation over the past couple of years. I’m sure he is well aware of his issues against short-bowling and will rectify them.
He failed in both matches against New Zealand’s main bowling attack in the last ODI series and he had a strike rate of 76 at the last World Cup in 2019 failed to perform apart from the last match against Bangladesh when it was too late.
Like T20 ODI series against B teams are creating a wrong perception our so called best openers and best players get found out in tournaments and series against full strength teams.
Mamoon
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Pakistan’s greatest ever ODI opener, Saeed Anwar, was a tailender against Australian and South African bowlers in their conditions.
It is not a problem if Imam hasn’t done amazingly well against first choice attacks. He is still very young, has time to improve.
There is no need to overanalyze and add asterisks to every performance. Imam has done an amazing job in this format and has been a very consistent scorer. He fully deserves to be an automatic choice. That’s all.
Amjid Javed
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Brilliant analysis, imam is king of selfish knocks, dead runs and meaningless scores. When it comes to pressure situations in tournaments, crunch games he dissapears.
Mainul
T20I Debutant
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Asia cup and world cup will be his acid test.
He does well in bilateral in batting condition.
But he hasn't proved himself in tougher circumstances yet.
He does well in bilateral in batting condition.
But he hasn't proved himself in tougher circumstances yet.
BunnyRabbit
ODI Debutant
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He has played one world cup and one Asia cup (if Asia cup counts). He is a much better batter than he was back in 2018-19
YousafTheBeast
T20I Debutant
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You can’t call him the best opener since Anwar if you’re having to say it’s not a problem if Imam hasn’t done well against first choice attacks.
Anyone can be a consistent run scorer, if the likes of Roy and Bairstow were to play at a strike rate of 80 they’d be averaging 70+.
Also, let’s forget about Anwar…compare Imam to the current openers from other teams. How many teams would replace their openers for Imam?
You’ll probably answer by saying he’s good enough for our standards, my response would be how do we know if he’s the best we’ve got when we aren’t giving opportunities to other players?
When imam scores, it has no impact on the game, he’s not taking the game away from the opposition with his 100 ball 80 runs.
You’ll also mention the criticism he’s received and being a parchi would have added pressure on him that no other player would have had to face. I can assure you that he’d face absolutely no criticism if he played a bit more aggressively, he’d get more cheers than Babar if he was averaging 35 at a strike rate of 95+.
His style of play only adds more fuel to the hate receives.
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Amjid Javed
PakPassion's 100,000 posts man
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Let's see how many impactful runs he gets in world cup 2023 in pressure games and how many dead knocks he plays.
pakistani pride
Senior T20I Player
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King of Jamodis.
He can replace Buvuma for South Africa,replace any of West Indies openers.the only team he won't get in as a opener is India and Australia.
Rana
Hall of Famer
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Imam is the perfect opener for the 80s/90s brand of cricket
shariqnoor
First Class Captain
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Said it when Imam was in his 30s or 40s in the match thread that it was a poor innings from him so far and the only way he could've redeemed himself was to go on and score a 100.
He almost did so I'm glad he understood that when he played the way he played for his first 30 runs, there was no other option but to bat out and score a 100.
People can go on and hate him as much as they want, but he is truly one of Pakistan's best openers for a long long time. The only people who hate Imam are those who are fascinated by Shahid Afridi's style of batting. Imam is well on track to be the fastest Pakistani player to 3000 runs.
He almost did so I'm glad he understood that when he played the way he played for his first 30 runs, there was no other option but to bat out and score a 100.
People can go on and hate him as much as they want, but he is truly one of Pakistan's best openers for a long long time. The only people who hate Imam are those who are fascinated by Shahid Afridi's style of batting. Imam is well on track to be the fastest Pakistani player to 3000 runs.
shariqnoor
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Please be objective. The B team didn't score 340 by themselves. Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham scored 70% of the runs for them. They are A-listed players for NZ.
Mamoon
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Imam in the last couple of years has really improved his strike rotation. The dot ball percentage has gone down and the SR has gone up.
People who still moan about him inclusion in the team cannot accept the fact that he has proved them wrong and is an excellent opener in this format. They can keep complaining but he is not going anywhere.
YousafTheBeast
T20I Debutant
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If you go by stats, no. Bavuma averages more and has a higher strike rate.
He wouldn’t get into most teams. Almost all the big teams have players on the bench or in domestic that can out perform Imam who is our first choice opener. When I mean out perform, I mean someone that has an impact on the game.
Mamoon
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Firstly, I can call him one of the best openers since Saeed Anwar because his competition is other Pakistani openers and we have had some absolute clowns over the last 20 odd years. Imam is better than everyone we tried except his partner Fakhar.
Secondly, it doesn’t really matter how many teams he gets into (and he gets into quite a few) because his competition is not Indian or English openers; his competition is Pakistani openers and when you look at his competitors, he deserves to be in the team.
Thirdly, there was no reason or no logic in trying anyone else because he was performing and he continues to perform. He scored a century on his ODI debut and consistently sustained a very high average and showed ability to churn out big innings.
His SR was low but when a young opener shows the ability to play big innings you would back him to improve his SR and Imam has improved on this front. There has been a clear improvement in his strike rotation and ability to maneuver the ball into the gaps.
He is a significantly more fluent player in 2022-23 than he was in 2018-19. You don’t need stats to know this because it should be clear to anyone who has watched his career so far.
You don’t give opportunities to other players for the sake of it. Imam has not given the selectors or the team management any reason to drop him from the team and select someone because he has been consistently scoring runs.
Fourthly, Imam has a very strong impact on the team. He, along with Babar and Fakhar, is the reason why Pakistan has been consistently scoring and chasing 300+ totals over the last couple of years.
Impact is not just slogging. That is a very simplistic way of looking at things. There is still plenty of room for players like Imam in ODI cricket and it is the delusion of Pakistani supporters if they think that they have power-hitters waiting in the ranks who can outperform and outscore Imam but are not getting chances.
The only opener with genuine potential is Saim Ayub and is extremely raw right now and needs a lot of time before he is ready. He will be Fakhar’s long-term replacement not Imam’s.
YousafTheBeast
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In 2017, his Dot ball % was at 52.6
In 2023, his dot ball % is at 51.8
In between these 6 years, he’s only had a dot ball % below 47 once.
Where’s the improvement?
The improvement is against weaker bowling on flat wickets if there is any the only 2 matches he played against a full strength attack of New Zealand both matches ended in failures.
Yes that’s a short sample size but scoring runs against New Zealand B and Australia B bowling attacks on flat wickets at home was no surprise that doesn’t make him Pakistan’s best opener far from it he’ll have to do it regularly against full strength bowling attacks and in tournaments.
Bring Umar Akmal into the team and let him open I’m sure he will have a strike rate close to 100 opening in these bilaterals.
hitthestump
First Class Captain
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If you replaced Imam with Rizwan and ODI's with t20's, every point made here applies there too.
The common factor is that there are no Lance Kluseners sitting in domestics being overlooked.
With a dearth of strong power hitters Pakistan are very lucky to possess two high averaging opening batsman for white ball cricket. They may be more pedestrian than their counterparts but still win games through frankly unbelievable consistency.
JibranAnsari
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Imam ul haq is a Godsent , scores run at a good SR overall. Starts could be a bit better but the good thing is that he is improving. Have we all forgotten the days when our openers used to back in the hut in the first five overs more often than not.
If only pakistan had a fit haris sohail all those years then we probably would have a top 4 of 50 plus averages. Pakistan need to sort out middle and lower middle order problems.
If only pakistan had a fit haris sohail all those years then we probably would have a top 4 of 50 plus averages. Pakistan need to sort out middle and lower middle order problems.
Flat_Track_Bully
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In a pressure world cup match he will get 35 from 65 balls and then get out
Majority of our batters are FTB minnow bashers.
Amjid Javed
PakPassion's 100,000 posts man
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Brilliant stats. Let's see the excuses now from the imam fan club groupies
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