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

pakistanigoneaussie said:
liability, when it matters most he comes short especially on the kind of pitches tournaments are played. His 150 against England was an anomaly.

All the best team have two openers who go hard, or at the very least play at a good rate. We need to look to do the same.
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He might have been useful 20 years ago but in this day and age you need players who can play to the modern standard and that means trying to score at run a ball in each innings. An innings like a 44 (58) should not be repeated again as though Pakistan did not lose, it very easily could have been the difference between winning and losing had England fielded better. Imam needs to score quicker and that doesn't mean he needs to risk his wicket to do so, just that his strike rotation should be better and he should look to score on each ball rather than have a block, hit mindset.
 
He is essential. Only in a country like Pakistan will we not appreciate a player such as this. Gives his heart and soul for the team and plays steady rather than trying to slog everything that’s thrown at him.
 
I like him but he needs to improve, he’s young so we should continue to invest but he needs to work on being more dynamic.

Is he essential? I don’t think so as we could have Haris Sohail open who plays the swinging ball well and plays slightly quicker than Imam.
 
He is doing his job once settle he tried to up the ante(and fail yesterday),stabillity at start is what we need.
Fakhar job is to go berserk.
 
Very important member of our top order, I liked his partnership with Fakhar they compliment each other very well; both struggled when spin came on so that is an area to address, it was great to see both pull so confidently, it was a clear plan but these blokes prepared quit well.
 
When you look at the pitches and WC that 300 is what you'll see in most games. Imam can be seen as slow. But he also provides stability. And in a collapse he can save his wicket. I wouldn't remove him now.
 
You have to develop a player.
People here act like we have Gilchrists, Sehwags in our domestic cricket waiting to get selected. Nah. But we do have Khurram manzoor - the don bradman of Pakistan domestic cricket.
Abid Ali is a flop, he's 30+ no point in investing in him.
We have a decent opener now and just develop him into a better batsman.
 
Wood made him dance with the new bowl is a really pathetic amateur cricketer. When set really batted selfishly hurting the team on such a good wicket. His worst came when he came to field, dropped and fumbled costing Pakistan. Pakistan literally won with 9 players carrying this liability.
 
Beyond liability, his average is inflated due to the lack of quality in much of the opposition he’s faced. Imam plays too slow no matter the requirements, today was barely at a 70. We do not hav proper hitters down the order, and again his SR is quite misleading, against the top bowling sides he bats at much slower than 80 SR and usually gets out way before accelerating to an acceptable level. He does not rotate and playing the sheer volume of dots that imam plays is counterproductive in the age of short boundary 300+ Score cricket we are currently seeing. Not only that but during this world cup he’s seemed like a nervous 10 y/on who has never played top flight cricket
 
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We have better talent, even his u-19 partner sami aslam is superior to him, but was never given a proper shot
 
In terms of batting approach he is Rohit sharma minus dangerous acceleration ability in the backend. But Pakistan needs his solidity to prevent top order collapse. Fakhar can do the acceleration. But this may not be a long lasting solution if Fakhar can't do it consistently.
 
His strike rate is pathetic. At least maintain a 90 strike rate.
 
If he improves his strike rate then he is the second best batsmen we have after Babar.
 
Not good enough.
Should be given a reality check by selectors about his slow batting.
 
Oh please... he was the one who kept Pakistan in the game for the first 25 overs. As soon as he got out, the collapse started and it was not like that the other players got out while they were under pressure because of run rate. They got out because they were simply not good enough against quality bowling. I am sure if Imam stayed for another 7 to 10 overs (even if he had played with 70SR), pakistan would have won the match. Imam is the least of our problems at the moment.
 
Imam just struggles against top tier bowlers, still young and has potential but has looked purely outclassed in the WC so far
 
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SuperMo18 said:
Imam just struggles against top tier bowlers, still young and has potential but has looked purely outclassed in the WC so far
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He's not that young he's around 25/26 considering most players are officially a few years younger in Pakistan he won't be suddenly developing big shots or drastically changing his technique most likely he will regress into a Azhar Ali type opener which will contribute to more losses.
 
Cric1234 said:
He's not that young he's around 25/26 considering most players are officially a few years younger in Pakistan he won't be suddenly developing big shots or drastically changing his technique most likely he will regress into a Azhar Ali type opener which will contribute to more losses.
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He’s 23.... and 25/26 is not young to you? If a player is keen to learn he can at any age, 25-30 is our natural athletic prime and when the peak for most athletes is. Considering he is still 2-3 years off, and he seems intent on proving his haters wrong, there’s no reason to believe he will not improve. If young talent is not given opportunity to develop then we will have no young players in our side. Saf persists with markram, and the windies with hope pooran and hetmyer, because the youth and potential is there
 
People criticizing him know nothing about cricket. Yes he batted slowly, but we were chasing a par total and the RRR was never an issue as Azam and Hafeez were going at decent rates and we had wickets at hands. Starc and Cummins are 2 world class bowlers, and it was important he saw them off with the new ball, which he did. Pakistan looked like winning when him and Hafeez were batting. He got out stupidly and he should have gone on to make a big score, but people saying his innings was match losing are clueless.
 
Is Imams S/R in most inns acceptable? No
Do any other team pick openers in ODIs to blunt the new ball? No
Does Imam have the batting game to score quickly and make up for his slow starts? No
Has Imam proven that he can be vital in a huge run chase? No

All this talk that Imam does better than the rest and he sticks around, yes of course he does. Other batsmen are scoring runs, trying to be aggressive and play for the team so taking more risk and likely to get out. while Imam just blocks, doesnt rotate the strike or take any risks. so hes less likely to get out but is actually offering nothing to the teams cause in overall picture of a run chase. If most batsmen played safely and batted 50 overs they would score 100 purely on the slow batting and balls faced.

Am sure Sunil gavaskars record for snail like batting in a world cup will be at risk at some point from imam.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Is Imams S/R in most inns acceptable? No
Do any other team pick openers in ODIs to blunt the new ball? No
Does Imam have the batting game to score quickly and make up for his slow starts? No
Has Imam proven that he can be vital in a huge run chase? No

All this talk that Imam does better than the rest and he sticks around, yes of course he does. Other batsmen are scoring runs, trying to be aggressive and play for the team so taking more risk and likely to get out. while Imam just blocks, doesnt rotate the strike or take any risks. so hes less likely to get out but is actually offering nothing to the teams cause in overall picture of a run chase. If most batsmen played safely and batted 50 overs they would score 100 purely on the slow batting and balls faced.

Am sure Sunil gavaskars record for snail like batting in a world cup will be at risk at some point from imam.
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We aren't any other team though are we. Imam probably wouldn't get into the ODI XI of most nations, but is more than good enough for Pakistan's team.
 
Reminds me of a young Rafatullah Mohmand - good fitness, excellent concentration levels, but poor shot range
 
topspin said:
Reminds me of a young Rafatullah Mohmand - good fitness, excellent concentration levels, but poor shot range
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Rafatullah Mohmand tried to play a cut shot on every single ball that he faced.

Such an insult to Imam :))
 
Amjid Javed said:
Is Imams S/R in most inns acceptable? No
Do any other team pick openers in ODIs to blunt the new ball? No
Does Imam have the batting game to score quickly and make up for his slow starts? No
Has Imam proven that he can be vital in a huge run chase? No

All this talk that Imam does better than the rest and he sticks around, yes of course he does. Other batsmen are scoring runs, trying to be aggressive and play for the team so taking more risk and likely to get out. while Imam just blocks, doesnt rotate the strike or take any risks. so hes less likely to get out but is actually offering nothing to the teams cause in overall picture of a run chase. If most batsmen played safely and batted 50 overs they would score 100 purely on the slow batting and balls faced.

Am sure Sunil gavaskars record for snail like batting in a world cup will be at risk at some point from imam.
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Lol you're talking as if we weren't just treading minnow waters recently.
 
Chokli said:
Rafatullah Mohmand tried to play a cut shot on every single ball that he faced.

Such an insult to Imam :))
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Imam has a high ceiling and I have hopes for him as a batsman and as a potential leader - I really do! But at present I see a young Rafatullah with goggles on.
 
Essential for a mentally weak team. We were winning till he was at the crease - we knew Hafeez was going to throw his wicket away against opposition like AUS, NZ, SAF.
 
SuperMo18 said:
Imam just struggles against top tier bowlers, still young and has potential but has looked purely outclassed in the WC so far
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Yeah like that absolute beast of a bowler Glen Madmax Maxewell...

Imam struggles against any bowling that's at a higher level than gully cricket...
 
cricketInsight said:
Essential for a mentally weak team. We were winning till he was at the crease - we knew Hafeez was going to throw his wicket away against opposition like AUS, NZ, SAF.
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Fully concur. I think he is Pakistan’s best batsman in a chase. Rarely gets flustered.
 
Guys Imam is not the problem. Seriously he isnt.

The problem makers in batting are Malik, Asif and Sarfraz
 
I judge a player, as a player and nothing personal.

Until recent past I was not convinced he deserved a place in the team, but he is making good progress and there are many reasons I would say he is essential for the team.

1-Still has many flaws in his batting but he is ATM the best opener in Pakistan.
2-He is young and deserves to be invested in.
3-Gives sometime outrageous and annoying statements but that shows he is a confident young man and not a nervous one.
4-Has good communication skill and if continues to improve his game, could be a captaincy material for future.
 
I agree he is not the best opener in the World but you don't want to be 10/2 in most games.Lets admit even though Fakhar is a matchwinner on his day is mostly inconsistent.I am all for replacing him if we have someone better but sadly we don't.One thing which is good about him is that he thrives under pressure.I expect him to come good against India
 
Time for him to answer his critics, cant be going at a strikerate of under 100 today
 
Indian batters played strokes on the direction wherever Mr. Imam was fielding and he gave away a lot of 2s and never went for a catch almost one or two times. The inzi family club was looking pathetic in the field Shoaib Malik, Imam were misfielding on purpose.
 
Wont blame him much there, he was more compact than frozen Fakhar and tuk tuk Babar. Was unlucky that got a bad low-bounch in-coming one as a first one of a new bowler.
 
Got bit unlucky today. He’s the best we have as an option and needs stay in team
 
mastersaan10 said:
name one player you can replace with Imam and he will perform at the same level?
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Sami. Aslam.

Been saying this for long time.

After WC lets move fakhar down to 4, and give sami a run alongside imam for 10-20 games, if he fails thrn ok it’s a merited drop, if not, he is a young talent at the age of 23-24, and unless proven wrong, i will continue to defend sami aslam as the superior opening talent from the same batch of u-19 that imam is from
 
Have you guys ever seen Imam play cover drive? Most of his runs are glance toward third man or runs down the pitch to score a boundary. He was jumping in the air against Indian bowlers. He is techically so poor that I have not seen him dominate 145kph+ bowlers. His hundred against England was when Archer and Wood were not playing .

He will score truck load of runs against minnow level bowling.


Shan Masood was that guy, who survived hostile bowling of proteas in SA. He should always be pefered over Imam in ODIs
 
Rahul yesterday played a slow innings in the context , yet nobody called him selfish or critized him. Similarly, Imam deserves more praise, and less "nonsense" criticism, as he has started well in career, and doing his job correctly.
 
Again out for a 30ish score. Had an SR of 75. If he played a bit faster, 340+ was on the cards.
 
Imam-ul-Haq injury in 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka in Karachi

PCB have stated that:


Imam-ul-Haq will take no further part in the ongoing second ODI against Sri Lanka. Imam sustained an injury on the webbing of his left hand while fielding in the third over of Sri Lanka's innings.
 
I decided to breakdown Imam's stats a bit to get a better idea of what he really is.

I have excluded his matches with Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. As a result, he has basically played in UAE/England/South Africa in 29 of his 31 matches.

47.33 AVG 77.03 SR & 4 hundreds (one each vs Bangladesh/England/South Africa/Sri Lanka).

Certainly that is an extremely impressive average. Strike rate is also on the low side for the modern game. However, his SR in UAE is just 71.07 which is very poor and it just speaks to the fact he has really struggled to generate runs quickly in UAE. In England and SA, it is much better at slightly above 81. Which is not great but it is not totally horrible either. He is also early in his career too and only 24 years old.

His most impressive innings is vs England when scored 151 runs on 131 balls displaying his ability to play a long innings and fairly quick too. It's probably too early to definitively say whether he is good or bad to be honest, I just think he needs to play more and then we can see if his SR starts to improve or not. If Pakistan play more games in Pakistan, I'd definitely expect his SR to be significantly better in Pakistan than in UAE which will go a long way in helping his SR.

It is impressive that he does have a very high average and he's scored 100's against some good sides too. Potential is clearly there but one thing he needs to work on is strike rotation and wider range of shots than simply relying on walking down the pitch to get a boundary.
 
Nasty Naz said:
I decided to breakdown Imam's stats a bit to get a better idea of what he really is.

I have excluded his matches with Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. As a result, he has basically played in UAE/England/South Africa in 29 of his 31 matches.

47.33 AVG 77.03 SR & 4 hundreds (one each vs Bangladesh/England/South Africa/Sri Lanka).

Certainly that is an extremely impressive average. Strike rate is also on the low side for the modern game. However, his SR in UAE is just 71.07 which is very poor and it just speaks to the fact he has really struggled to generate runs quickly in UAE. In England and SA, it is much better at slightly above 81. Which is not great but it is not totally horrible either. He is also early in his career too and only 24 years old.

His most impressive innings is vs England when scored 151 runs on 131 balls displaying his ability to play a long innings and fairly quick too. It's probably too early to definitively say whether he is good or bad to be honest, I just think he needs to play more and then we can see if his SR starts to improve or not. If Pakistan play more games in Pakistan, I'd definitely expect his SR to be significantly better in Pakistan than in UAE which will go a long way in helping his SR.

It is impressive that he does have a very high average and he's scored 100's against some good sides too. Potential is clearly there but one thing he needs to work on is strike rotation and wider range of shots than simply relying on walking down the pitch to get a boundary.
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Those stats certainly show he's got something about him, but as you said the SR is a concern. Roy and Bairstow should be the model in this modern white-ball game.
 
He's not a bad player and in fact you could go as far as saying he's the next reliable batsman after Babar. I think perhaps Shan Masood might be a good option in the future as a potential opener, so he might deserve a chance. Haider Ali though is one I'm getting excited about in the future and possibly consider having Umar Amin return to the fold.
 
Nasty Naz said:
I decided to breakdown Imam's stats a bit to get a better idea of what he really is.

I have excluded his matches with Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. As a result, he has basically played in UAE/England/South Africa in 29 of his 31 matches.

47.33 AVG 77.03 SR & 4 hundreds (one each vs Bangladesh/England/South Africa/Sri Lanka).

Certainly that is an extremely impressive average. Strike rate is also on the low side for the modern game. However, his SR in UAE is just 71.07 which is very poor and it just speaks to the fact he has really struggled to generate runs quickly in UAE. In England and SA, it is much better at slightly above 81. Which is not great but it is not totally horrible either. He is also early in his career too and only 24 years old.

His most impressive innings is vs England when scored 151 runs on 131 balls displaying his ability to play a long innings and fairly quick too. It's probably too early to definitively say whether he is good or bad to be honest, I just think he needs to play more and then we can see if his SR starts to improve or not. If Pakistan play more games in Pakistan, I'd definitely expect his SR to be significantly better in Pakistan than in UAE which will go a long way in helping his SR.

It is impressive that he does have a very high average and he's scored 100's against some good sides too. Potential is clearly there but one thing he needs to work on is strike rotation and wider range of shots than simply relying on walking down the pitch to get a boundary.
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His stats will always be good I reakon it's his strike rate he needs to have a range of shots and take singles and doubles
 
Shoaibbtt said:
He's not a bad player and in fact you could go as far as saying he's the next reliable batsman after Babar. I think perhaps Shan Masood might be a good option in the future as a potential opener, so he might deserve a chance. Haider Ali though is one I'm getting excited about in the future and possibly consider having Umar Amin return to the fold.
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Agreed he is pakistan next reliable batesman after babar but u cant have imaam going at 75 strike and babar going at 80 strike rate and as for shan he similar to imaam.haider ali is exciting but I'd play him the middle against the spinners
 
I wonder, what if Imam tried to refashion himself as a number 4? He doesn’t have the strike rate to be an opener but can definitely take on an anchor role. Meanwhile give Haider Ali and some other opener the leash to play destructively at the top.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
I wonder, what if Imam tried to refashion himself as a number 4? He doesn’t have the strike rate to be an opener but can definitely take on an anchor role. Meanwhile give Haider Ali and some other opener the leash to play destructively at the top.
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Personally I would play haider opening or number 4 but I fink number 4 cuz he trashes spin
 
There is some positives for Imam, but his weakness really hurt the team majorly. His lack of strike rotation and lack of shot selection doesn't at all help in the modern game. He's had a pretty impressive career so far specially with the hundreds against South Africa and England. But he's work to be done with.
 
A strike rate of 77 isnt good enough

Pakistan playing with no intent and all one paced players They arent even hitting 5 runs per over and this is against the mighty zimbos
 
He is an asset because the player he has placed had similar strike rate and averaged much lesser than him. He was the top scorer for Pakistan against teams like England and South Africa.
 
You cant single out one player. Apart from babar who isnt a liability in pakistan batting lineup.
 
He is our third best batsmen in ODIs. We need to get rid of Abid, Rizwan and Iftikhar and replace them with new faces first before worrying about Imam.
 
Been a supporter but after what he did today. Should never play for Pakistan ever again. There is no place for a selfish cricketer like that in the team.

That was one of the most selfish cricket I have ever seen from a Pakistani bat. Tried selling Haris out. Surprised nobody else is talking about that selfish attempt at getting Haris runout and making it back safely himself
 
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GudduBadmash said:
Been a supporter but after what he did today. Should never play for Pakistan ever again. There is no place for a selfish cricketer like that in the team.

That was one of the most selfish cricket I have ever seen from a Pakistani bat. Tried selling Haris out. Surprised nobody else is talking about that selfish attempt at getting Haris runout and making it back safely himself
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Thankfully you are not the selector :facepalm:
 
Another selfish snail like Inns, nothing will change with Imam.
 
Zaz said:
A strike rate of 77 isnt good enough

Pakistan playing with no intent and all one paced players They arent even hitting 5 runs per over and this is against the mighty zimbos
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I think becouse hes the senior between him and abid he will get more criticised if fakhar or another attacking Bateman was thier then his strike right would be ok as fakhar normally attacks
 
aukhan said:
He is our third best batsmen in ODIs. We need to get rid of Abid, Rizwan and Iftikhar and replace them with new faces first before worrying about Imam.
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Agreed atleast imaam knows how to bat long he needs someone who can attack from the other end
 
He wasn’t doing anything wrong today.

Comical run out, him and Harris should have batted until 200 until 36-38 overs. I think he is essential but you can’t have another similar batsman like him opening
 
Rana said:
He wasn’t doing anything wrong today.

Comical run out, him and Harris should have batted until 200 until 36-38 overs. I think he is essential but you can’t have another similar batsman like him opening
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That's exactly my point his role is to bat throw I blame the management
 
Simply put - Abid, Imam, Babar and Haris as a top 4 in ODIs isn't working and never will work.
 
RyanRyan10 said:
He is an asset because the player he has placed had similar strike rate and averaged much lesser than him. He was the top scorer for Pakistan against teams like England and South Africa.
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Agree with you, Imam is doing right as a opener and very consistant also i have seen improvising in 60's and 70's yet some fans are against him . What have others done, Middle orders responsibility to increase the tempo. Wakeup guys, Abid and Ifti should not play,those are the batsman requiring with high strike rate. Imam is a must to the team.
 
Best opener in Pakistan right now. The problem is people expect Warner, Rohit, De Kock level performances from our openers. But the reality is that we have shoddy openers in all of Pakistan. Imam is one who has shown the ability to at least stay at the wicket and score big runs. His strike-rate may be 8o-85ish generally but if he scores 70-80 odd runs every second or third game, that's great for Pakistani standards.

I know I would rather have someone score 80 runs at 85 SR consistently than have someone like Fakhar scoring 20 runs on average at 120 SR. Pakistan needs runs first and foremost and Imam provides that. How many Pakistani openers have won a Man of Series award in South Africa and hit a 150 in England? There needs to be one anchor in the team and that should be Imam. People talk about Babar being the anchor but that is not how it should be. Babar is the one who should be providing the momentum in the innings by batting at a SR of 90 by virtue of being the best batsman in the team.

He's an absolute must for this fragile batting lineup. What needs to be done, however, is have Haider Ali open alongside Imam and not frauds like Fakhar and Abid.
 
It's been said so many times. Too many accumulators in that top order. They need to pick one out of Imam and Abid and slot in a strokemaker, be it Haider or Fakhar. Until the balance is sorted we'll always struggle.
 
What really makes me angry is that despite this pathetic selfish approach he behaves like some star and makes the team as well. There has to be some accountability for selfish players like him but problem is in Pakistan such players are rewarded. Just look at Misbah.
 
For a young opener I feel he has a lot of good traits. At the same time I think he needs to really put his head down and improve on the way he builds innings. In modern day cricket you shouldnt make a norm of being 2 odd of 15,16 odd balls so he needs to improve his strike rotation as well as develop more options of safe boundary shots in the powerplay especially as team cant afford to under utilize the field restrictions.

Babar should be the only anchor in the team and unless he falls early players like Imam, Haris and Rizwan should bat in a more dynamic fashion.
 
The problem with Imam is that without taking risks he doesn't have enough shots and if he takes risks, he risks getting out and then all the questions about him are asked about him. He isisn'the worst but he isnt very good either. Unfortunately, as there is a dearth of even half decent batsman in PK, a problem we have had for a long while, he ain't going anywhere.
 
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