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Why does Imam-ul-Haq get so much hate?

Saj said:
Another timid dismissal to a nothing ball.

Really needs to improve his record outside of Pakistan.

His average in Tests outside Pakistan at the moment is 25.18
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People get carried away because he plays in a slow manner in ODIs and plays risk free cricket but scores runs and thats going to translate into test cricket.

Imam struggles against short ball and technically in general id pretty poor so his record outside pakistan is no surprise.
 
Amjid Javed said:
People get carried away because he plays in a slow manner in ODIs and plays risk free cricket but scores runs and thats going to translate into test cricket.

Imam struggles against short ball and technically in general id pretty poor so his record outside pakistan is no surprise.
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Not just short ball, if it moves, if it spins basically anything apart from absolutely flat conditions. Has no shots to speak of either.

He won't score even in Pakistan if Pakistan go back to normal pitches that were made before Australia series.

He has played 29 innings and not a single innings of note.
 
I think he needs to be persisted with- he’s a lot better than many others out there

The second innings dismissal was unlucky

He has improved a lot overall
 
Marooned said:
Not just short ball, if it moves, if it spins basically anything apart from absolutely flat conditions. Has no shots to speak of either.

He won't score even in Pakistan if Pakistan go back to normal pitches that were made before Australia series.

He has played 29 innings and not a single innings of note.
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How many of the 29 Innings were back to back tests or did he get dropped multiple times ?
 
A proper hack who’s exposed regularly on wickets with a bit of help for the bowlers needs those highways in ODIs to make himself look like Saeed Anwar when he’s on par with Shehzad as a batsman.
 
Amjid Javed said:
People get carried away because he plays in a slow manner in ODIs and plays risk free cricket but scores runs and thats going to translate into test cricket.

Imam struggles against short ball and technically in general id pretty poor so his record outside pakistan is no surprise.
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I'm surprised he's not worked on the short ball weakness as it's glaringly obvious to all.
 
Saj said:
I'm surprised he's not worked on the short ball weakness as it's glaringly obvious to all.
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Up until last year 12-18 months his domestic record was a poor one. pretty much one good season. Then weve gone through a period where domestic cricket has been played on roads so hes started to score heavily. i highly doubt many bowlers have tested him with short ball so hes probably not worked on the weakness. He also seems to have a tendency to not be able to get in line with at the crease so hes off balance and gets out to average deliveries.

To many players now also have bit success in ODIs and get away with poor technic and its exposed in test cricket. in imams case he had very little technical ability in 1st place.
 
The 2nd innings at Galle represents an ideal opportunity for Imam to show what he is made of.

A century needed from him.
 
shamaan said:
What makes you say he hasn't worked on the short ball ?
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The fact he struggles to get in line against it or score meaningful shots. come the england and NZ series both sets of pacers will be using short stuff against him as well.
 
Thought he looked good today.

Needs to go big tomorrow and save Pak.
 
Amjid Javed said:
The fact he struggles to get in line against it or score meaningful shots. come the england and NZ series both sets of pacers will be using short stuff against him as well.
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Definitely will be getting alot more tests in the next two tours.
 
Imam-ul-Haq in Test cricket:

Average in Pakistan - 74.00
Average outside Pakistan - 26.21
 
I don’t think he is serious and has broader vision to look farther beyond oneself - may have some basic, average talent that many others have in Pak - so the only thing that help him get into Pak team was Inzi

As I said, average talent - not fully serious - lacks a broader vision and definitely not a test match winner.
 
Pretty average season so far in the QeA Trophy yet he's been picked against England.

229 runs at an average of 38.
 
Saj said:
Pretty average season so far in the QeA Trophy yet he's been picked against England.

229 runs at an average of 38.
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His overall domestic average is mid 30s, hes had 2 good season in domestic cricket in his whole career. His 100s conversation rate is pretty poor.

its just a normal season for imam.
 
Pakistan will produce roads for England series in which the likes of Imam and Azhar will be batting for days.
 
The flak he gets is absolutely justified. I would take even current versions of Fawad and and Azhar Ali ahead of this guy. Fawad is equally poor against pace but is a much stronger player of spin. Azhar Ali , even if you take into account his decline (2020 onwards) , is a stronger player of pace and as good/bad as Imam against spin.

Both those guys had a domestic season as well unlike Imam. Imam is the only selection that is completely unjustifiable.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
The flak he gets is absolutely justified. I would take even current versions of Fawad and and Azhar Ali ahead of this guy. Fawad is equally poor against pace but is a much stronger player of spin. Azhar Ali , even if you take into account his decline (2020 onwards) , is a stronger player of pace and as good/bad as Imam against spin.

Both those guys had a domestic season as well unlike Imam. Imam is the only selection that is completely unjustifiable.
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Not to worried about Imam being in the XI. His last 2 series were ok even though mostly it was flat track bashing.

Huraira is breathing down his neck and he has a strong backing (Shoaib Malik nephew) so any dip in performance and Hurraira will get a go over him unless Abdullah has a poor run and then he might be under pressure aswell.
 
Dud test batsman who hasn't played a single innings of note in his career but will keep getting chances because of friendship with babar.
 
Just noticed Imam is ranked second in ODI batting.

His presence must cause shivers to the opposition.
 
Xoib said:
Not to worried about Imam being in the XI. His last 2 series were ok even though mostly it was flat track bashing.

Huraira is breathing down his neck and he has a strong backing (Shoaib Malik nephew) so any dip in performance and Hurraira will get a go over him unless Abdullah has a poor run and then he might be under pressure aswell.
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They will give Abdullah a extended run even If he fails.
 
Gets too much unnecessary hate. Yes, he can be a bit snail-paced sometimes but he's one of our few batsmen that doesn't crumble as soon as they're under an iota of pressure.
 
Can’t have both him and Azhar in the same squad. In tests other teams are adopting some principles from white ball cricket when it comes to batting yet we’re carrying Azhar and Imam in the same squad.

Imam has to stay obviously, he’s younger and hasn’t hit his peak yet. Azhar is in the twilight of his career and has to go.

I’m not saying batsmen should be batting at 100+ SR all the time, but these guys are slower than usual. Having multiple batsmen like that is momentum sapping.
 
Has earned his position to be fair but one of those batsmen who never look set enough to dominate the proceedings. Even after 50-60 runs he looks like he is batting in his shell.
 
I like him as an ODI opener

But no way is he the 2nd best ODI batsman in the world regardless of form and consistency
 
Shan Masood has 10 years of rubbish performances under his belt. He will not start ahead of Imam in either Tests and ODIs. His delusional fans can keep crying.
 
Mamoon said:
Imam the ODI opener is comfortably better than Rizwan the T20I opener.
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It’s correct but Imam the ODI opener isn’t the second best ODI opener in the world on ability.

I’m just saying this because I firmly believe Rizwan’s no.1 or even the top 10 ranking is a massive flaw in the system.

There is no way that the same reason to believe Rizwan’s ranking to be a flaw is not going to come into effect when looking at Imam at number 2. Although, I wouldn’t drop Imam from our opening spot, yet I will gladly remove Rizwan and he can be dropped from the team all together if that’s the only position he is going to hold Pakistan ransom to
 
Very weak off side game in tests and needs Karachi type highways to score runs. And poor against spin too.
Those who rate him obviously know nothing about cricket.
He has done nothing in qea where oldeis like Khurram are scoring tons
 
Last edited:
I think he's being written off because of the nepotism factor, despite being already better than most openers you've had.

There have been openers limited to leg side before (GRahame Smith didn't seem harmed).

Looking at Imam's performance vs Oz. His ODI tons in England, his ODI tons in SA, I honestly think he's the most capable opener in your country at the moment, so he's the one who should be persisted with.

If he scores runs at home? GREAT. Warner scores for fun in Oz but isn't great away. He's still our best opening option. Imam at least has time to improve.

I can understand the hate as peole in Pakista are very frustrated at the entire system which players like Imam represent. I just happen to think he can play and that's very rare among Pakistani openers.
 
Mamoon said:
Breaking news: taking out good performances from a batsman’s stats would decrease his average.
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They aren't "good performances", that's the point.

In his test career, he has only really scored heavily in ONE test where you and me could bat till Yawm al-qiyamah.
 
wrongun said:
I think he's being written off because of the nepotism factor, despite being already better than most openers you've had.

There have been openers limited to leg side before (GRahame Smith didn't seem harmed).

Looking at Imam's performance vs Oz. His ODI tons in England, his ODI tons in SA, I honestly think he's the most capable opener in your country at the moment, so he's the one who should be persisted with.

If he scores runs at home? GREAT. Warner scores for fun in Oz but isn't great away. He's still our best opening option. Imam at least has time to improve.

I can understand the hate as peole in Pakista are very frustrated at the entire system which players like Imam represent. I just happen to think he can play and that's very rare among Pakistani openers.
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He's good in odis but a complete dud in tests.
 
wrongun said:
I think he's being written off because of the nepotism factor, despite being already better than most openers you've had.

There have been openers limited to leg side before (GRahame Smith didn't seem harmed).

Looking at Imam's performance vs Oz. His ODI tons in England, his ODI tons in SA, I honestly think he's the most capable opener in your country at the moment, so he's the one who should be persisted with.

If he scores runs at home? GREAT. Warner scores for fun in Oz but isn't great away. He's still our best opening option. Imam at least has time to improve.

I can understand the hate as peole in Pakista are very frustrated at the entire system which players like Imam represent. I just happen to think he can play and that's very rare among Pakistani openers.
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Problem is most people conflate his good odi performances with his shocking test performances.

In tests, he has gotten way more rope than his non existent performances merit.

31 innings, grand total of 4 50s, 2 of which came in the same game on the pindi highway hell.
 
Rana said:
It’s correct but Imam the ODI opener isn’t the second best ODI opener in the world on ability.

I’m just saying this because I firmly believe Rizwan’s no.1 or even the top 10 ranking is a massive flaw in the system.

There is no way that the same reason to believe Rizwan’s ranking to be a flaw is not going to come into effect when looking at Imam at number 2. Although, I wouldn’t drop Imam from our opening spot, yet I will gladly remove Rizwan and he can be dropped from the team all together if that’s the only position he is going to hold Pakistan ransom to
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What’s the flaw in the system? If there’s a flaw then the entire ranking system is flawed in which case the rankings for every player are suspect. Please elaborate.
 
He’s yet again proved that if there’s anything in the pitch, he’s outa there
 
Poor stuff today.

Struggles when there is a bit of zip or bounce.
 
Imam's dismissal against Anderson:

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Typcial Imam flat foot fishing shot against the moving ball
 
If he has taken a review on this, then this event alone should disqualify him to play for Pakistan.
 
He is normally solid enough in sub continent conditions.
I think he got sucked in by bazball and his comments about getting on top of England before this match. Poor stuff
 
Another batter who played a joke of a shot today.

What was he thinking?

What was he actually trying to do?
 
I don't think I have seen too many openers as bad as this guy against the short ball.
 
Saj said:
I don't think I have seen too many openers as bad as this guy against the short ball.
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His cardboard cutout technic always gets exposed against short and quick stuff.
 
Imam is good. I understand he might have some weakness against the short ball but he can work on it. In ODIs, I think Imam is the second best Pakistan batsman after Babar. He is much better than the other opening option Pakistan have tried over the years.
 
sam_ahm said:
Imam is good. I understand he might have some weakness against the short ball but he can work on it. In ODIs, I think Imam is the second best Pakistan batsman after Babar. He is much better than the other opening option Pakistan have tried over the years.
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If your opinion is based on technique then fair enough, but if it’s based on stats then I can’t see how he’s a batter opener than Fakhar in ODI’s.
 
Amjid Javed said:
His cardboard cutout technic always gets exposed against short and quick stuff.
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The problem he faces now is that pacers around the world know about this weakness and he is going to face a lot of chin music.

He needs to work on this aspect of his batting.
 
Saj said:
The problem he faces now is that pacers around the world know about this weakness and he is going to face a lot of chin music.

He needs to work on this aspect of his batting.
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He's been around long enough and clearly hasn't worked on his game. Both of us highlighted this issue years ago. I remember him struggle against short ball been bowlers like degrandhomme in the UAE years ago.

He will be a sitting duck on away tours in Aus and SA in next WTC.
 
I dread to think what will happen to him when we tour Australia. He won’t even reach double figures.
 
what on earth do these guys do in the nets? They got one job to do which is to try to better their game but there seems to be no improvement whatsoever.
 
asadee said:
He is also a very unreliable fielder
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Not very athletic at all.

Sometimes he does very good things in the field, but mostly it's rather average pieces of fielding with plenty of errors.
 
He's a good batters but he has plenty of weekenesses but he can grind out runs in odis
 
Imam chugging away in ODIs - no reason to hate him as long as he scores runs
 
MenInG said:
Imam chugging away in ODIs - no reason to hate him as long as he scores runs
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Depends how he gets his runs and the impact. Played a selfish stats padding knock today, not the 1st time he's wasted a PP and then failed to accelerate during an inns, zero purpose inns.
 
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