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[VIDEOS] Imam-ul-Haq - Essential or a liability in ODIs?

Saj said:
Batting for a 100 or for the team to win?

I hope it's the latter!
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It's the former. Team playing ODI openers tend to get 100s inside 30 overs, imam is sailing towards one in 40th over chasing 300 🤦‍♂️
 
Saj said:
91 off 105 balls chasing 301 to win.

Some will say it was a good knock and he was let down by others.

Some will say he should have been scoring faster than he did.
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Should be scoring faster, even though wickets have fallen at other end. As the in form player why let req run rate rocket up 🤦‍♂️
 
This is a typical Pakistan player innings.

Play slow, make more than everyone else, but don’t get the job done.

But the fact you top scored “hey not my fault, see you next series for which I’ve secured my place for”

This is all our players play for.
 
105 balls faced.

You are out there for a long time and by the time you are out, your strike-rate should be at least 100.
 
Saj said:
105 balls faced.

You are out there for a long time and by the time you are out, your strike-rate should be at least 100.
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His dismissal today - should have gone on and finished the game for Pakistan.

 
First Hats off to shadab and Naseem, you beauty, massive respect.

Now onto the topic, for years we have been critising imam for being slow, selfish and have sought to replace him, however let's be honest, Imam is a better batsmen then Babar Azam as of late.

First of Imam looked like a natural at playing spin, with the exception of one mistake made against rashid khan, he had no problem dealing with spin bowling, while Babar continues to look uncomfortable against mujeeb and rashid khan.

He also scores at a quick pace and if it wasn't for him in the first odi, pak wouldn't have been able to get to 200. Imam also has great temperament and is mentally mature as a batsmen.

Today he even seemed comfortable against the short ball showcasing his improvement. Imam's only weakness is his lack of boundary scoring shots which makes him useless by the 40th over or if he loses partners he's unable to anchor the innings due to pressure of playing a shot. A problem even Babar azam has.

I've said this time and time again, we need saud shakeel at no 4, Imam and saud will complement each other extremely well. But it's safe to say imam has surpassed Babar as a batsmen. He will be World class if he develops boundary scoring abilities.
 
Saj said:
105 balls faced.

You are out there for a long time and by the time you are out, your strike-rate should be at least 100.
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Saj, I've said this again and again, most openers for the big sides India, Australia, New Zealand, England usually get there hundreds inside 30 overs or at worst between 30th and 35th.

That how the game has been pretty much since 2019.

Wasting a PP then trundling along and playing a few shots in anger late on to boost your strike rate.

Yet you will still get posters on here defending this fraud called imam.

This will be exposed again during the world cup as well.
 
Selfish player/has no idea how to chase. Both him and Babar bat like 75% of the overs and by the time they get out the RRR is always higher then the actual rate required. They are no match winners, have 0 impact. Just look at his career SR and his runs/impact on games.
 
Scored his first 50 off 55 balls. Pretty good

Score his next 41 runs off 50. Can't slow down like that
 
Whilst I think he is the key for Pakistan

I would say that Imam doesn’t have the cojones to deal with a tough situation like his great uncle did
 
ahmadharis1 said:
Scored his first 50 off 55 balls. Pretty good

Score his next 41 runs off 50. Can't slow down like that
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This just how poor his batting is, I mean how can you score slower in your next 50 balls? Also him and Babar batting together is a disaster in ODI's
 
ahmadharis1 said:
Scored his first 50 off 55 balls. Pretty good

Score his next 41 runs off 50. Can't slow down like that
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He clearly panicked once Babar got out, and was just lashing out hoping for the best.

The guy doesn’t like being the one who has to do the heavy lifting.
 
Rana said:
He clearly panicked once Babar got out, and was just lashing out hoping for the best.

The guy doesn’t like being the one who has to do the heavy lifting.
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LOL if he cant even do it in a JAMODI then what will he do at the WC? His partnership with his mate was also a pathetic one.
 
pakistani pride said:
LOL if he cant even do it in a JAMODI then what will he do at the WC? His partnership with his mate was also a pathetic one.
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Well, no not really. The partnership was decent and took Pakistan pretty deep. Plus they managed to take out many overs of Rashid and Nabi without them picking up wickets (whilst also taking 4-6 runs off them per over).

But we know our Immy well enough now. He’s also just not that guy I’m afraid
 
Might actually be Pakistan’s best player of spin in this team
 
My only criticism would be the lack of acceleration in the second half of his innings:


50 off 55 balls
91 off 105 balls

Last 41 runs took 50 balls
 
pakistani pride said:
This just how poor his batting is, I mean how can you score slower in your next 50 balls? Also him and Babar batting together is a disaster in ODI's
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Rana said:
Whilst I think he is the key for Pakistan

I would say that Imam doesn’t have the cojones to deal with a tough situation like his great uncle did
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I thought you talking about Ifiti Chachu but realised it was Mamoo Inzi!
 
Saj said:
My only criticism would be the lack of acceleration in the second half of his innings:


50 off 55 balls
91 off 105 balls

Last 41 runs took 50 balls
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a very difficult pitch to bat on. Boundaries couldn't be hit and needed to rotate strike. He batted really well considering the pitcj
 
Major said:
a very difficult pitch to bat on. Boundaries couldn't be hit and needed to rotate strike. He batted really well considering the pitcj
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41 off his last 50 balls wasn't good enough.

That put pressure on his team-mates and let's be honest we only won because of Shadab's innings and Naseem at the end.
 
They all play like that when they know they are close to a hundred. This is not just an Imam thing.

Rizwan, Babar, etc they are all like that. So if you are going to call out Imam, call out the other batsmen as well. I think Fakhar is the only one in this team who goes about his business his own way and plays his natural game and does not get too concerned about making centuries.
 
Slightly modified stance allowing him to bat more aggressively. Running twos better etc. than earlier as well.
 
Too much criticism for Imam. It wasn't easy to go after Rashid and Mujeeb in the middle overs.
There's a lot of room for improvement, yes, but Imam has been improving.

People think we have Saeed Anwar and Gilchrist waiting in the wings yet won't ackowledge the fact that if Imam gets dropped, Shan will be the one to get called up.
 
BunnyRabbit said:
Too much criticism for Imam. It wasn't easy to go after Rashid and Mujeeb in the middle overs.
There's a lot of room for improvement, yes, but Imam has been improving.

People think we have Saeed Anwar and Gilchrist waiting in the wings yet won't ackowledge the fact that if Imam gets dropped, Shan will be the one to get called up.
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Here we go the usual there are no better players excuse.

He's a really good idea, how about imam improves his game and stops being selfish.
 
Imam does not have a attacking gear, never has.

He can however occupy the crease and is the best option available today.
 
He is a liability when Fakhar doesn't get going, Babar gets dismissed after a soft impactless 50 & Rizwan dances around the pitch & kills momentum by wasting deliveries.
He becomes somewhat of a commodity if not essential When Fakhar gets an explosive start, Babar scores a decent hundred of 90+ strike rate & Rizwan bats at 5/6 so that he doesn't get the chance to waste deliveries.
He is never going to win you matches against the top dogs in crunch matches.The best he can do is set up so that the lower middle order can finish it.I don't think he is selfish, this is the best he can.Either accept him with limitations or leave him on bench. The problem is out of their top 6, 4 of them are accumulators & the other 2(Fakhar & Ifti) are inconsistent with dodgy techniques. Seniors like Babar & Riz should be compelled to come out of their comfort zone & play more freely. If everyone is only concerned for a cute 50/100 it will always put unnecessary pressure on the lower middle order. There is no Afridi, Razzak, Moin or Akram waiting, who can come out & blast a 20 ball 40.
 
Concerned said:
Imam does not have a attacking gear, never has.

He can however occupy the crease and is the best option available today.
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If I a player is not willing to work or improve his game or play for team he shouldn't be picked.
 
Continues to score, continues to perform and is yet critiqued like no tomorrow.

Imam and Rizwan, the two gems treated like dirt
 
Imam ul Haq is a class player and I would rate him ahead of Babar. However, he needs a competent no 2 and 3 batsmen with him to raise him to the next level of his game. I think having Sharjeel open with him would help him leaps and bounds. In addition, having Saud Shakeel come in at 3 would help stabilise the innings if Sharjeel gets out early. I think having these two batsmen would make him more confident and able. He is already doing a wonderful job but I can see him becoming the next Saeed Anwar, scoring consistent runs for the team at high strike rate for ODI.
 
shamaan said:
How do you know he isn't trying to improve his game ?
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Because he bats in the same way, trundles along in PP, playing safety 1st shots. If he had improved you would see him improvising, or a better range of shots. Not everything is brute force. Most elite players work on playing shots all around wicket, reverse sweeps, switch hits, ramp shots etc. Create different angles etc.. imam is just box standard blocks the normal balls and looks for bad balls, thats not how modern day LOI cricket is played now.
 
Looking at his innings of 91 against Afghanistan in isolation.

Yes the overall number of runs looks good, but his last 41 runs were slower than his first 50 runs, this at a time when the rrr was increasing.

That cannot be right.

As I wrote before, Pakistan won due to Shadab's innings and Naseem's heroics at the end and not because of Imam's effort.
 
Imam's measured innings posed challenges, yet his runs proved pivotal in securing the victory.
 
Saj said:
Looking at his innings of 91 against Afghanistan in isolation.

Yes the overall number of runs looks good, but his last 41 runs were slower than his first 50 runs, this at a time when the rrr was increasing.

That cannot be right.

As I wrote before, Pakistan won due to Shadab's innings and Naseem's heroics at the end and not because of Imam's effort.
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I think babar's departure and the fact he was facing nabi, rashid and mujeed in those overs may have something to do with it but I am just playing the Devil's advocate here.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Here we go the usual there are no better players excuse.

He's a really good idea, how about imam improves his game and stops being selfish.
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Hasn't he been steadily improving? His SR has increased from 78 to 82 in last 2-3 years. He has visibly improved on starting quicker than he used to.
If you expect him to bat at 150 SR that's not going to happen as it's beyond his ability. Babar is someone who has all the time in the world to get in the really good positions while facing every sort of bowler. Imam doesn't have that ability. Babar is someone I expect to add the fifth gear into his batting as he can.

So what's your suggestion on who should play if not Imam?
 
Imam has one issue, he's useless once we reach over 40 or he just gets out.

It's why we need Saud, tayyab and consistent batters who can play alongside imam so that Imam can go on his merry way.

Having a player like Imam isn't bad, he's clearly the best player of spin in the team and besides one slip up against rashid he seemed to be playing rashid like a pro.
 
crucial point is that he's the type of player who can go up to 40 with a good strike rate. You need to adapt according to the conditions and Sri Lankan pitches aren't conducive to playing with an excessively high strike rate.
 
Saj said:
Looking at his innings of 91 against Afghanistan in isolation.

Yes the overall number of runs looks good, but his last 41 runs were slower than his first 50 runs, this at a time when the rrr was increasing.

That cannot be right.

As I wrote before, Pakistan won due to Shadab's innings and Naseem's heroics at the end and not because of Imam's effort.
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Looking at those numbers in isolation misses the match situation where wickets were tumbling regularly. All of Pakistani batters were at sea against Afghanistan spinners except Imam and Shadab. It would be unfair to say that Imam’s effort didn’t provide the platform for the successful chase as Naseem and Shadab finished the chase but i doubt Pak was gonna reach even 250 without Imam’s valiant effort.
 
Stewie said:
I think babar's departure and the fact he was facing nabi, rashid and mujeed in those overs may have something to do with it but I am just playing the Devil's advocate here.
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Yup. I mean people are forgetting that all Pakistani batters were struggling against these spinners on that wicket, and Imam at least managed to handle them w/o getting out, keeping Pakistan in the game.
 
Imam is a wonderful player but so can’t escape the feeling that he slows down due to our unreliable middle order. Rizwan is struggling in ODI’s and Salman tends to throw his wicket away. Chachu is unreliable - plain and simple..

That being said Imam should add more strokes to his repertoire I.e lol to sweep / reverse sweep against Rashid and Mujeeb
 
msb314 said:
Imam is a wonderful player but so can’t escape the feeling that he slows down due to our unreliable middle order. Rizwan is struggling in ODI’s and Salman tends to throw his wicket away. Chachu is unreliable - plain and simple..

That being said Imam should add more strokes to his repertoire I.e lol to sweep / reverse sweep against Rashid and Mujeeb
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I doubt there's anyone among the current lot who's able to negate a spin based attack (30 overs of spin) with sweeps and reverse sweeps. Maxwell, Buttler etc play a high risk brand of cricket (Buttler is more successful) which isn't sustainable unless you have top notch batting lineups full off varied batters. Apart from AB, I don't think anyone has the game to take spinners to the cleaners without losing his wicket.
Younis was the last Pak batter who'd negate spin by knocking the spinners around effortlessly but he wasn't an LOI batter.
 
Terrible innings of 13 (30), got out running down the wicket and swinging for the fences. This guy doesn't have a 2nd gear.
 
Awful, scratchy innings today.

Edges, plays and misses and then a wild slog.

13 off 30 was really poor.
 
His fans will say look at his average in the series against Afghanistan - 55

His critics will say look at the strike rate - 72.05
 
Imam is one of the luckiest player to represent Pakistan. His uncle's influence secured him a spot at a young age, and he faced relatively weaker opponents in his early career, granting him ample time to develop and solidify his position. Naturally, given such extensive opportunities, even a moderately skilled player can eventually accumulate runs. His batting style revolves around accumulating runs through simplicity, employing late shots, and capitalizing on poor deliveries. However, this style may not win many games for Pakistan. I see him as a role player.

He managed to secure his place in the team because others around him, despite their aggressiveness, struggled to consistently succeed. Their focus on team play over individual statistics may have worked against them. Credit where it's due, Imam is astute; he understands that bolstering his statistics is key to maintaining his place, especially when others are faltering around him. I'm very interested to see his average away from subcontinental pitches.
 
BunnyRabbit said:
I doubt there's anyone among the current lot who's able to negate a spin based attack (30 overs of spin) with sweeps and reverse sweeps. Maxwell, Buttler etc play a high risk brand of cricket (Buttler is more successful) which isn't sustainable unless you have top notch batting lineups full off varied batters. Apart from AB, I don't think anyone has the game to take spinners to the cleaners without losing his wicket.
Younis was the last Pak batter who'd negate spin by knocking the spinners around effortlessly but he wasn't an LOI batter.
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I don’t think Imam can / will play an aggressive brand of cricket - especially on these slow tracks.

However, he should be a bit more positive against Rashid and Mujeeb. He should look to sweep or try a late cut maybe once per over. Target 5-6 RPO against good quality spin if the target is < 320.
 
msb314 said:
I don’t think Imam can / will play an aggressive brand of cricket - especially on these slow tracks.

However, he should be a bit more positive against Rashid and Mujeeb. He should look to sweep or try a late cut maybe once per over. Target 5-6 RPO against good quality spin if the target is < 320.
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yes definitely he needs to improve his SR.
 
Imam's batting average holds up well, yet his strike rate could use some fine-tuning. He falls in the middle ground – not a must-have, but not a liability either. Unpopular opinion, but I'd lean towards Shan Masood or even Sahibzada Farhan over him.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Because he bats in the same way, trundles along in PP, playing safety 1st shots. If he had improved you would see him improvising, or a better range of shots. Not everything is brute force. Most elite players work on playing shots all around wicket, reverse sweeps, switch hits, ramp shots etc. Create different angles etc.. imam is just box standard blocks the normal balls and looks for bad balls, thats not how modern day LOI cricket is played now.
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Kohli doesn't really doesn't play the reverse sweep or sweep or even the ramp shot unless you have ?
 
A terrible call from him and he pays the price... out for 5 in the Asia Cup opener.

1693390132856.png
 
Imam had a strike rates of 73 and 76 at the last Asia Cup and World Cup they were 4 years ago but I wouldn’t expect him to do a lot better.

The only series he played versus a full strength New Zealand team recently he failed which isn’t surprising.
 
He needs to be dropped as he will cost Pakistan in big matches wonderful player amazing batsman Imam won’t be so amazing in big matches when Pakistan need him.
 
His running between the wickets seems to be a bit hair-raising.

Usually involved in run-outs or close calls running between the wickets.

Run out 5 times in ODIs already.
 
Wasn't the most fluent of innings but he stuck at it.

He probably feels that he should have scored a century out there today.
 
He fell just short of his century. Instead of attempting a slog hit.

He could have focused on accumulating runs through singles and doubles to comfortably get to his 100.
 
Imamul haq is turning out to be a great consistent batsmen for Pak.. it shows that he is working hard and working on his weaknesses.. he has vastly improved.. Although his strike rate yesterday, in the end was good..just that if he works on his hitting abilities a bit more, and is able to bat consistently on a higher SR or atleast able to shiftto next gear when required, he will be greatest asset for the team.. Looking at his attitude, i think he will improve his hitting abilities as well..
 
Yes he has his limitations but there's no Gilchrist waiting in the wings that Imam is blocking, he's the best and most consistent proper opener we have. Unless you want to put a T20 hack that can play a destructive cameo once in a blue moon, while Babar is walking out in the 2nd over the rest of the time.
 
Imam stats against India might not be good but he is probably the best option Pakistan has at the moment as an opener. He is tecnically strong and good range of attacking shots as well. He had a really good ball from Bumrah this evening that would be be difficult to handle for any left-handed batter.
 
Imam is 27 years old, we’re stuck with him for a good 5 years regardless of whether he performs or not. His place is confirmed for the World Cup in 2027.

A couple of meaningless hundreds against minnows after failing in this years World Cup will have his 2-3 fans on this forum comparing him to Anwar.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
Imam is 27 years old, we’re stuck with him for a good 5 years regardless of whether he performs or not. His place is confirmed for the World Cup in 2027.

A couple of meaningless hundreds against minnows after failing in this years World Cup will have his 2-3 fans on this forum comparing him to Anwar.
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Imam is fine, problem is he's not an impact, he's an achorer and pakistan is relying in babar and Imam, 2 anchorers to be their saviours.

England when they had Joe root to anchor, root could play his game because Alex Hales, Roy, Bairstow, Morgan, Butler just played freely lol

We don't have any player like that, previously fakhar complimented Imam but that's no longer an option.

So without any hand holding from fakhar, Imam has become useless now, his anchoring and soft 50's to 100's ain't doing anything if fakhar isn't striking at the other end.
 
Awful batsman and much needed reality check for his cheerleaders who were going all ga ga over his innings against the mighty Bangaldesh.
 
Imam is Pakistan’s best opener. He is no Rohit Sharma but he is one of the best we have produced in a long time.

He got a pearler by the best fast bowler in Asia today. Happens to the best of them. He is among the least of Pakistan’s problems.
 
Imam is a lock for the World Cup for me. He’s way more consistent than other options we have tried and he’s shown a willingness to increase his strike rate recently.
 
Mamoon said:
Imam is Pakistan’s best opener. He is no Rohit Sharma but he is one of the best we have produced in a long time.

He got a pearler by the best fast bowler in Asia today. Happens to the best of them. He is among the least of Pakistan’s problems.
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You started a thread about Babar vs India. Apparently the same logic doesn’t seem to apply to Imam
 
Imam and Babar isn't the problem. The problem is pur entire batting line up desperately wishing for these 2 to perform. Saud and Abdullah, Becharei water boys.
 
Mega failure against Netherlands. Does not bode well for the rest of the tournament.
 
Imam will struggle in this tournament, he reminds me of Ahmed Shahzad who came into a world with so much hype and he couldn't handle the heat.
 
He is less talented but more hard working version of Ahmed Shehzad. In other words, not good enough.
 
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