[VIDEO] "Friendships have to be put aside, the mindset has to change": Imad Wasim

[MenInG]

Imad Wasim chats with Saj about Pakistan's recent struggles, where things are going wrong, Pakistan's mindset and approach, what needs to change, his own availability for Pakistan, the same mistakes being repeated, team results should always be more important than individual performances and more.

[Rana]

Great interview

Cannot disagree with anything he said

[pakistanigoneaussie]

His replacement has done quite well, he isnt needed

[Rana]

His replacement has done quite well, he isnt needed

Kis dunya main reh rahe ho?

Who was Shan Masood replacing as vc?

[shah_1]

Mate you lost 5-0 in UAE as a captain against Australia

[Saj]

Mate you lost 5-0 in UAE as a captain against Australia

Which 5 matches has he captained in?

Can you show me.

[shah_1]

Which 5 matches has he captained in?

Can you show me.

I made a mistake , but he did captain two matches against Australia in which we lost and contributed towards the whitewash.

We were an average ODI team between 2017 and 2019. What kind of modern cricket were we playing under Mickey? We were whitewashed by NZ, Aus and Eng, and lost 3-2 series against SA. We lost test series in UAE against SL and NZ.

He is simply bitter because he is out of the team

[Saj]

I made a mistake , but he did captain two matches against Australia in which we lost and contributed towards the whitewash.

We were an average ODI team between 2017 and 2019. What kind of modern cricket were we playing under Mickey? We were whitewashed by NZ, Aus and Eng, and lost 3-2 series against SA. We lost test series in UAE against SL and NZ.

He is simply bitter because he is out of the team

ok so from 5 matches it's suddenly gone down to 2 matches.

[asifh96]

Mr superstar is a glorified tailender, a spinner who can’t turn the ball, he’s fielding is not that great. What is his use?

Move on, and if people say what’s the alternatives?, then I agree with a certain poster on here that Pakistan really has no talent.

We really can’t find either a better specialist bowler or batsman than Imad Wasim?? And if anyone calls him an all rounder then they need to ask themselves one question:

Can you use Imad Wasim in the same sentence as Kallis, stokes etc who actually qualify as being all rounders???

[jupiter2007]

There is lots of talent in Pakistan. Unfortunately, sometime it’s undiscovered, sometimes it’s neglected, something not given the opportunity, sometimes the Raw talent is not trained properly. All our ex-stars should work at grassroots level to improve our cricket instead of giving interviews.

[emranabbas]

His bowling in odi has been poor but with the bat he averages
40 vs australia
55 vs england
71 vs india
113 vs south africa

Average of 46 home and 49 away

2019 average of 47 before he was dropped
2018 average of 50

He could be a good lower/middle order batsmen we need

[PakEngFan]

ok so from 5 matches it's suddenly gone down to 2 matches.

Doesn’t matter he’s an awful cricketer anyway. Very rich from him to be talking about friendship when he played Walton over rizwan for a long time. Walton batting stats in international are worse then tail Enders
.

[Sher Khan]

Doesn’t matter he’s an awful cricketer anyway. Very rich from him to be talking about friendship when he played Walton over rizwan for a long time. Walton batting stats in international are worse then tail Enders
.

At that moment Rizwan had not gone through his T20 purple patch. He was a below average T20 player who played too slow and didn't fit into the team requirements.

Walton played at a much better strike rate than Rizwan at the time.

[Sher Khan]

I like Imad a lot, but we need to be honest. I am not sure he fits into the ODI team right now. Salman seems perfectly capable to me.

Nawaz and Shadab are then our numbers 7 and 8. Nawaz is a superior bowler to Imad in ODIS.

[ask_analyse_act]

ok so from 5 matches it's suddenly gone down to 2 matches.

Saw that series,,, Mickey believed in him but looks to be just English accent talk and nothing else...
Well he himself could have won those 2 matches as captain with his batting if he could as I rmb.. but being captain he hide himself behind players and debutants just like how Sarfraz did... also fearing for his place in CWC (bcoz of poor performance) didnt give enough overs to Haris Sohail..

In ODI cricket, he is kind of useless cant turn the ball, fielding ok , batting just hide behind batsmen, cant play an inns like how Nawaz did a no. of games.. fitness very poor.. lazy cricketer who thinks his English would get him far as a captain , may be in u-19 not in intl..

[proud_pakistani]

We need Imad for the World Cup in India. We can def accommodate him, Nawaz and Shadab in the line up. Imad is the only one of those spinners who can open the bowling and really tighten the screws early on. Babar has not implemented spinners up front which is also an option that needs to be looking into again.

[daytrader]

We need Imad for the World Cup in India. We can def accommodate him, Nawaz and Shadab in the line up. Imad is the only one of those spinners who can open the bowling and really tighten the screws early on. Babar has not implemented spinners up front which is also an option that needs to be looking into again.

I wouldn't mind seeing this. Rather than a specialist spinner we can fit in all these spin all rounders and all can bat a bit. I'm afraid though there could be grouping in the team with the way he's criticizing the captaincy

[asadee]

He is a darter at best. Does not warrant a place in any of our XIs. How will he be captain??

[TheSultan]

People need to stop shooting the messenger and evaluate the message.

I am far from Imad the cricketer’s fan, but his message is spot on.

- We are playing dated cricket
- We are always looking to do “just enough” (great point he made about par score vs winning score and how we only ever just aim for par and expect the bowling to bail you out every match)
- Players play for their averages more than worry about results. There’s no disputing this
- a lot of selections are based on friendships

You’d have to be seriously deluded to argue against all those points.

And a message for the babar / rizwan cult. Why attack anyone that criticises them? If babar himself is defensive and responds that’s even understandable to an extent as the attack is on his captaincy and strategy. But why are the so called fans so defensive?

Is babar / rizwan more important than Pakistan’s results? Don’t you want your team to do better?

[gazza619]

I like Imad a lot, but we need to be honest. I am not sure he fits into the ODI team right now. Salman seems perfectly capable to me.

Nawaz and Shadab are then our numbers 7 and 8. Nawaz is a superior bowler to Imad in ODIS.

Imad’s competition is with Nawaz who has proven to be a tail ender.

Imad can give you more runs with the bat and is a leader.

[Khurram1989]

In my opinion Imad is more suitable for T20 and Nawaz for ODI.

[Rana]

Imad’s competition is with Nawaz who has proven to be a tail ender.

Imad can give you more runs with the bat and is a leader.

They can both play

Nawaz is too good to drop just for Imad. Pakistan can drop Imam or Shan if the want and Babar can just open the batting if need be so

[Markhor]

I don't support Imad's recall in ODIs as his bowling is not penetrative enough - he averages 60.61 against ENG, NZL, AUS and IND.

However he speaks well and makes good points about par scores vs winning scores.

And where I completely agree is how embarrassing it was seeing us celebrate a 0-0 draw against NZ. Babar and Rizwan were grinning like muppets after we escaped by the skin of our teeth in the 2nd Test when bad light saved us from a third successive home series defeat.

[Markhor]

Quote of the week !

"When I'm bowling against English or South African or Australian batsmen my heart rate is 180 or 200 thinking about what to do.

On the other hand when their bowlers are bowling against us, they're just chilling."

Also glad to hear him call out our OTT celebrations for reaching the Asia Cup and World Cup finals when we've no trophies to show for it.

[gazza619]

They can both play

Nawaz is too good to drop just for Imad. Pakistan can drop Imam or Shan if the want and Babar can just open the batting if need be so

To drop Imam and play Imad is too risky. The batting will become too too thin.

I rather play a Sharjeel in place of Imam who has a 10% chance of giving you a blistering start.

Nawaz’s role is that of an allrounder and he has failed to be honest.

[Rana]

Quote of the week !



Also glad to hear him call out our OTT celebrations for reaching the Asia Cup and World Cup finals when we've no trophies to show for it.

The only runners up historically remembered in the game to this day was the Pakistan 99 World Cup side

Wasim Akram’s team was the most iconic side in Pakistan ODI history (IMO). What a team that was! What a big opportunity missed by this side

[Rana]

To drop Imam and play Imad is too risky. The batting will become too too thin.

I rather play a Sharjeel in place of Imam who has a 10% chance of giving you a blistering start.

Nawaz’s role is that of an allrounder and he has failed to be honest.

I get your point but I’m personally not in favour of dropping Nawaz. He is one of the few players who has the ability to change the game in this side in brief moments.

Babar at the moment is already padded up ready to open considering anyone of Fakhar, Imam and even Shan are likely to just Nick off and sit in the dugout in the first few overs. Babar might as well just open and Pakistan can add extra cover with Imad at the back end

The other thing they can do is try Nawaz as an opener (but they will not think below the belt), because he’s actually a very good player of attacking pace bowling.

[Maher96]

It all comes down to team combination.

Imad bowling is still above par, I think a good PSL from him will bring him into contention under current regime.

As a bowler I don’t know but if Nawaz or Shadab are to bat in top 6 we can accommodate Imad.

Looking at India May be we should stick to 2 fast bowler 2 spinner and Imad.

He can open the bowling and is a handy bat. And let’s be honest our fast bowlers really struggle with their own quota to bowl decent spells.

All comes down to team combination. With current top 4 I think Imad, Sarfraz and Amir are still very handy cricketers to have.

Agha is a top order bat for LOI, he isn’t the biggest finishers you will see rather a poor mans Babar.

I would have

Fakhar/Imam
Babar
Rizwan
Nawaz
Sarfraz/Tayyab
Agha
Shadab
Imad
Haris
Naseem
Shaheen

[shah_1]

I agree with most points made by him. Publicly criticizing a team mate of yours is still uncalled for, if he was an ex cricketer then it would have made sense.

I don't see it happening anywhere in the world except Pakistan. How would he face his teammates if he join them. He should have avoided this interview, rather shared his concerns with PCB about Pakistan cricket and Babar Azam.

[Major]

ironic, this is coming from a guy who has friendship with Shakil Sheikh...

point is, when friendship favors you, than its alright. But when it goes against you than its an issue

[Rana]

ironic, this is coming from a guy who has friendship with Shakil Sheikh...

point is, when friendship favors you, than its alright. But when it goes against you than its an issue

Shakil Sheikh is friends with the right kind of people

So don’t mind this

[Major]

Also, he got 2 games as captain and yet the team lost. The guy has a bowling avg of 44 in odis. In t20s he offers nothing, just throws darts. His replacement, Nawaz is a much better bowler than him. Its too bad Babar as a captain fails to utilize him and throws him in bad situation.

Anyways, Imad Waseem was very lucky to play 100 games for Pakistan, and it was all thanks to Shakil Sheikh. He never deserved to play international cricket in the first place.

[PakEngFan]

Also, he got 2 games as captain and yet the team lost. The guy has a bowling avg of 44 in odis. In t20s he offers nothing, just throws darts. His replacement, Nawaz is a much better bowler than him. Its too bad Babar as a captain fails to utilize him and throws him in bad situation.

Anyways, Imad Waseem was very lucky to play 100 games for Pakistan, and it was all thanks to Shakil Sheikh. He never deserved to play international cricket in the first place.

For once I agree with you. Imad is nothing more than an average cricketer at best but acts like a superstar.

[Saj]

Interestingly Shahid Afridi got in touch with Imad ahead of the ODI series against New Zealand regarding his availability.

[gazza619]

Interestingly Shahid Afridi got in touch with Imad ahead of the ODI series against New Zealand regarding his availability.

Interesting.

It seems like Afridi wanted to select him.

[ex-q-zit]

Imad scores a useful knock of 40(33) in vain as his side loses to Comilla Victorians by 5 wkts in BPL.

[Rana]

Imad, Amir and Malik are proper T20 players

[Saj]

Interesting.

It seems like Afridi wanted to select him.

Possibly, but he had already signed a deal to play in the BPL.

[Rana]

Possibly, but he had already signed a deal to play in the BPL.

I think he wants to come back as a captain in one format. That’s what I understood from his interview with you

[cricketAXEpert]

Mr superstar is a glorified tailender, a spinner who can’t turn the ball, he’s fielding is not that great. What is his use?

Move on, and if people say what’s the alternatives?, then I agree with a certain poster on here that Pakistan really has no talent.

We really can’t find either a better specialist bowler or batsman than Imad Wasim?? And if anyone calls him an all rounder then they need to ask themselves one question:

Can you use Imad Wasim in the same sentence as Kallis, stokes etc who actually qualify as being all rounders???

'Glorified tailender' are we talking about Imad Wasim. Imad Averages 42 + in Odi this batting average is also backed by 40+ in First class and 36+ in list A. That is far better than many specialist Batters who are playing in his place. He is not a strike bowler but a decent 5th bowler. not a big spinner of the ball but then so was Anil Kumble.

[Saj]

I think he wants to come back as a captain in one format. That’s what I understood from his interview with you

I don't think he thinks he can just walk back into the team as skipper. It's never that easy.

From the interview it's pretty clear he isn't happy with the way the team is playing white-ball cricket, the approach and the mindset.

[gibsyhesperis]

Another very interesting interview -- thanks Saj.
He's made some interesting points and the perception of his ability as a player should not influence the validity of his thoughts on the game (some posters seem to have mixed up this obvious point).

For example, Babar is clearly one of the finest batters Pakistan has produced in years but hardly comes across as a deep thinker of the game.

Really enjoyed hearing his comments -- lets have more interviews like this Saj !

[shah_1]

He is a quality T20 bowler, a better option than Nawaz but can't say the same for ODIs.