Imam-ul-Haq

When Imam-ul-Haq burst onto the scene during the U19 Asia Cup in 2012, there was huge pressure on him to justify his place, purely because he was the nephew of former Pakistani great, Inzamam ul-Haq. Haq was the then Chairman of Selectors in Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). 

A left-handed top-order batsman, Imam made his international debut in 2017 and since then has been a regular feature for the Pakistani side across all three formats. Question marks were raised when the batter was selected in 2017. However, he justified his place in the side with a sublime ton against Sri Lanka, and in the process became the second player from Pakistan to score a century on his ODI debut. 

He followed it up with a splendid batting performance against Zimbabwe in 2018, slamming three centuries in the ODI series, and became the first player in cricketing history to score four centuries in his first nine innings. In the fourth ODI match of the series, he and Fakhar Zaman registered the highest opening partnership in ODI’s, with 304 runs. 

A technically sound player, Imam had a stellar start to his ODI career and was thus included in the Pakistan squad for the one-off Test match against Ireland in 2018. He scored his maiden Test fifty in the second innings of the match and was instrumental in the team’s victory. 

In the following away Test series against England in 2018, Imam’s technical flaw against the moving ball was clearly exploited by the English bowlers, especially Stuart Broad who dismissed the left-hander in three innings out of four.

In April 2019, Imam was added to the Pakistan squad for the 2019 World Cup. He slammed 305 runs in 8 matches, including a sublime ton against Bangladesh at Lords.

In the first ODI of the three-match series against South Africa in 2021, Imam scored a crucial 70 to help his team cross the victory line against the Proteas. He stitched a 177 run second-wicket partnership alongside skipper Babar Azam which eventually helped the middle and lower-order batsmen to chase the target of 274 against a strong Proteas bowling line-up.

A flamboyant stroke-player, Imam has been one of the most consistent performers for the Pakistan side in the last four years. He is a reliable opener who has worked hard immensely on his technique. Strong on the offside, Imam has all the shots under his armory and Pakistan would be hoping that the opener continues to perform well for them. 

(As of April 21)