Where did it go wrong for Imran Nazir during his career?

[msb314]

I was just watching the highlights of the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2000 game and it was a sight to behold watching Saeed Anwar opening with Imran Nazir and they were batting at a SR of 100+ which was unheard of 17 years ago!

Nazir in particular lofted the fast bowlers and spinners with ease - it seemed like he had all the strokes in the both and was an attacking option back in those days with a SR of 83.

Definitely seemed like a natural stroke player and similar to how Warner or Guptill play today.

Question is where did it go wrong for him and why did he have an unsuccessful career?

He clearly had the talent so was it a case of having a bad attitude or lack of temperament? Or was he also a victim of the selection policies that saw the likes of Butt, Farhat, Taufiq get more opportunities than the likes of Elahi, Hameed, Naved Latif and possibly also Nazir?

Discuss!

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

I remember he was later on called Mini Boom, he took the Afridi route and also got in to ICL along with Farhat, I guess all that spoiled his attitude.

 

[mojohnson]

As well as sharing the boundary hitting ability with Afridi... it seems they also had similar mental capacity when it came to batting - nazir also used to get out needlessly going for big shots without caring much for the match situation.

 

[Zaz]

I think the little success he had went to his Instead of continuing to be the stylish stroke maker he was He headed down the afridi path of trying to hit and slog everything from ball one

Sad that so much talent was wasted

 

[austerlitz]

Never had talent,just hacker.Too many of these types in the subcontinent.
Afridid started the fashion.Big bats and flat pitches,and now in India too after IPL these types have become popular.Stand and deliver,no feet movement,no brain cross bat sloggers.Yusuf pathan one big example.Kedar yadav.Now the hyped up risabh pant is coming.

 

[another drop catch]

At that time Imran Nazir was the best stroke maker I have ever watched it live
He played fantastic innings in ICL season2 finale

 

[SM1989]

His tendency to poke at outside the off stump deliveries and throw his wicket away.

 

[Hamza_]

Temperament issues.

 

[MMHS]

He had all sorts of mental and to an extent technical problems but those were not the reasons he ended up playing 1/10th of what he should have for PAK. Guy made one of the best ever Test hundreds for PAK against WI at Barbados, so ability was indeed there - he was a fantastic back foot player of fast bowling - some of his ODI innings against that AUS & SAF attack indicates ability, he has the highest by a PAK player in WC and guy could field - a class below Jhonty or Mark, which was unthinkable for a PAK player 15 years back.

The reason his career ended prematurely was lack of trust and undestanding of ODI game, more precisely batting strategy by PAK think tank & Captain (one very powerful guy with utmost belief in loyalty & group - he didn’t manage his team, rather picked players whom he could manage). Nazir was an attacking player, so obviously some days guy will get out for a rash shot, but his batting value was never realized, rather they made him confused and scared him with constant criticism. That time (still), concept of ODI batting for PAK think tank was that 1-2-3 are there to take the shine off - if it’s a pinch hitter, it has to be a slogger (even today people thinks Imad Wasim can bat at 29/119 stats as opener!!!!!!).

So, players like Farhat, Taufique, MoHa, Razzak, Malik, YK, Butt, Kamran were selected to bat in top 3 and Nazir was dropped probably 20 times in his 10-12 years career. Interestingly, Taufique, MoHa and Farhat (may be few others, can’t recall now) were batting with similar average like Nazir (late 20s), but at a SR in 50s/60s and it was considered better value because they were suppposed to be shedding the big 3 from new ball!!!!

My equation is simple - the guy was batting at around 29 (probably ended at 26)/85 stats in early ‘00s and he could field, he could field better than anyone PAK had ever seen that time - to me, for LO cricket that’s better value than a specialist batsman with 35/70 stats and a permanent liability in fielding. No comparison as the game doesn’t work that way, but Nazir used to start with 10-12 runs handicap over MoYo or Inzi just from his fielding and running. On top of that he won’t have ever done the MoHa thing - 24 of 59 and then get out just when you don’t need your set batsman back. If even in 1 out of 10 innings, if he stays for 25+ overs, PAK hardly will lose that ODI and that’s probably statistically true - can’t recall his 70+ scores in losing course. Could have won the T20 WC as well but for the run out in final.

Anyway, wasting Nazir was a mistake and that for MoHa, Malik, Taufique, Farhat .... was a crime.

 

[LordJames]

His form declined due to medical reasons as he suffers from severe arthiritis.

 

[silentkiller187]

ICL killed him off, i am sure a recall would have beckoned otherwise, knowing pakistan

 

[Amjid Javed]

Overated flat footed slogger eventually got found out and was poor mentally that he inherited same brain fades as afridi most of the time.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Imran Nazir was given a pretty decent run in the side on 3 separate occasions and ultimatley failed as most of time he was getting starts and then throwing it away. Yet everytime Nazir is discussed Some PPers come out with nonsense like he was never given a reak run inside and PCB wasted his talent.

Complete and utter rubbish to be honest! he just wasnt up to the mark as a player.

 

[Amjid Javed]

From a post i made back in 2011!

Its funny how players have selective memories, He was given two very long runs in the ODI side early in his career and was found wanting!

He played 33 ODIs from March 2000 to April 2001 - Averaged 24.43

and then was given another run in 2002 and played 18 ODIs - Averaged 28.41

Pratically 51 ODIs in 3 years is more then enough games to establish yourself as a player!

 

[The_Odd_One]

Did not play in the era of flat wickets.

If a ball swung an inch, he was a walking wicket.

 

[Boi]

He was too dumb. Similar story to Umar Akmal and Yasir Hameed.

 

[mmkextreme_1]

He would have been a gun player in today's form of cricket.

The problem with him was if the ball wasn't gun barrel strait he was a walking wicket. Had all the talent in the world but for some reason decided not to improve his game.

 

[Savak]

Martin Crowe was absolutely in awe of his off side stroke play and timing on the tour of 2001. Nazir had a shot selection problem and it was unfortunate that some of his rash dismissals were not tolerated. He also got dropped after facing off to the best bowling attack i.e. the Invincible aussies in 2002 who exploited his technical issues. Bob Woolmer disliked Nazir and even publicly criticized his selection for the 2007 WC. In 2007-2008 Nazir remained on the fringes of selection but being in and out of the team so many times definately played a role in him accepting the ICL offers back then who must have offered him a huge amount for sure. I also believe it was during this time period that he suffered a sinus/breathing problem for which he needed surgery as it started to affect his breathing, stamina and he requested to be given medical leave from the PCB. When Nazir was recalled in 2009, he had a rash dismissal against India in the CT due to which he was dropped for the next match against Australia and he was recalled for the Semi Final against NZ where he did his best to reign in his attacking instincts before he got a brute of a ball from Bond, after that the next time Nazir was recalled was that lone T-20 against Australia in Australia where he was unfortunately run out and then he was finally seen in the T-20 WC in 2012. Since then Nazir's career finished due to Arthiritis and i believe it was so severe that he could no longer get out of bed pain free and in the last interview i saw of him on tv, he was stuttering a bit and his hands were shaking and him being 36 now, i think his ship has sailed.

Even Shoaib Akhtar has said on record many times that he is Pakistan's Cricket biggest tragedy, so much talent, natural ability but very little application and mismanagement as well. I personally believe Nazir compared to others did not really get a long rope and was very easily axed for a few poor performances, bad shots compared to others

 

[Hasan123]

Had the talent but he had serious temperamental issues. Tried to play one shot too many too often.

 

[Bewal Express]

Overated flat footed slogger eventually got found out and was poor mentally that he inherited same brain fades as afridi most of the time.

I was just about to write about his cricketing intelligence

 

[Saj]

A lack of cricketing intelligence.

Hand/eye coordiation was good but he had no clue which shot to play to which ball most of the time.

 

[Savak]

A lack of cricketing intelligence.

Hand/eye coordiation was good but he had no clue which shot to play to which ball most of the time.

This becomes a problem when you have so many cricketing shots in your arsenal.

 

[troodon]

Hacks usually get found out after a year or two in Int'l cricket.

I remember watching Nazir play and he was a stand and deliver batsman. A tremendous hitter though.

 

[Bewal Express]

He was part of the lost generation which included Farhat, Tufeeq and Faisal Iqbal. None ever reached any of the heights promised and all underachieved big time.

 

[Usman Chadda]

He was part of the lost generation which included Farhat, Tufeeq and Faisal Iqbal. None ever reached any of the heights promised and all underachieved big time.

The failure of that generation's cricketers ultimately led to Pakistan sliding down the rankings. The Under-19 World Cup team of 1998 should have produced atleast two world-class cricketers.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Decent cricketer

Had the world gushing at his feet after his debut series in the Caribbean
Resurrected for Lahore badshahs

Needed to be dropped three times to score a hundred
Basically shahid afridi but without a googly

 

[Extra_Cover]

Imran Nazir was great player off the backfoot. Also his offside game was top notch. The problem was playing straight full deliveries. He got out on a number of occasions where he tried to play an extravagant flick while missing the ball completely and getting plumb lbw.

His work ethic was where he lost it. He had that superstar mindset from early days when people started comparing him as new Afridi and that superstar mindset led to his extinction.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Was a walking wicket against genuine swing bowling. Nazir would have loved the flat roads of these days. Also played in an era where Pak dropped any batsman who played risky shots in the first 20 overs. I also remember he did well in the T20 games up till 2009 after which he was dropped for unknown reasons.

In this era of huge totals Mickey would have loved Nazir in the T20 and ODI's (to some extent). Also would have worked with him on his issues. Unlike U. Akmal Nazir was a respectful guy which helps.

 

[Saj]

Reminds me of when Geoffrey Boycott went to Pakistan to do some coaching.

Imran Nazir nodded away at every word Boycott said. After Boycott had finished speaking to the players, Imran Nazir said "what did he say?"