Imam-ul-Haq, Pakistan‘s batter, was instrumental in the first Test against New Zealand. His 96-run knock kept the hosts in a good position before the match in Karachi was called a draw. Imam has been a critical member of Pakistan’s lineup since he first donned the green jersey.
Imam made his international debut in 2017, becoming Pakistan’s second player to score a century in his first ODI. So far, the 27-year-old batter has appeared in 19 Tests and 54 One-Day Internationals, scoring 1322 and 2528 runs, respectively.
But, as the nephew of legendary cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq, his path had never been easy, as he carried a heavy burden of expectations. In a recent Sports Central interview, the batter revealed that he gets frustrated when people compare him to Inzamam.
“Sach batau to dil kaafi dafa kiya hai ki chachu ko bolu ‘meri kya galti thi’.[If I’m being honest, I felt I should tell chachu (Inzamam), ‘what was my mistake?’],” Imam told Sports Central.
“But some things come unwanted in your life. People say that I handled it well, but I actually didn’t. I just went with the flow because I had no other option. I came after a long process as well; I played two U19 World Cups, played in 45 first-class matches and had an average of 50 in the Qaid-e-Azam trophy when I was first picked in the team,” he said in Hindi.
Imam went on to thank Pakistan captain Babar Azam for his unwavering support during the difficult times. “Initially, I couldn’t handle the pressure and I won’t lie. I didn’t know what to do. And I would like to mention Babar here. He played a very big role in supporting me. We played a lot of cricket together. And it was vice-versa, if he had doubts, we used to discuss them as well. In my family, we are all fighters and we don’t give up easily. So I kept on putting the hard work and I had good people around me,” he said.
