A Tribute to Inzamam (by Ayaz Farooqi)

[Saj]

Inzamam’s absence will be felt for long time

Starting from the decade of 50’s when Pakistan produced such batting stalwarts as Hanif Mohammad, Nazar Muhammad, Waqar Hasan and Wazir Mohammad, the country boosts of an array of world-class batters who have done the country proud through their superb efforts with the willow. This list of elite performers would be incomplete without the mention of the burly Sultan of Multan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who announced his retirement from One-day Internationals after Pakistan second successive embarrassing exit from the World Cup. Whether he should have made this decision a year or so back is a matter of conjecture and of course debatable
.
The 37-year old Inzamam-ul-Haq, popularly known as Inzi in the cricketing circles, made his international debut in the 1991-92, and immediately created indelible impact through match-winning performances in the semi-final and final of the World Cup ’92. The sharp eyes of Imran Khan had spotted the precious jewel in the 22-year old innocent looking lad and Inzamam was included in the World Cup bound squad purely on his persuasion. Even during the competition he persisted with the youngster despite opposition from senior pros like Javed Miandad after initial failures. Later events and the exploits Inzamam realized in his career proved that Imran was spot on in his judgment. Imran Khan’s prophetic words still ring in the ear that this young lad will one day become the best batsman in world cricket; true to this utterance, Inzamam for nearly a decade was ranked amongst the best in his contemporaries along with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.

Very few could play fast bowling as well as Inzamam could in his heydays; his trademark was the pull shot to any delivery that pitched slightly short of good length. He would swiftly move on to the back foot – which belied his heavy frame – swirled around and with his left foot in the air he would, in a twinkling of an eye, smack the ball towards the boundary ropes. Later he developed the same mastery over spinners, becoming a thorn in the eyes of the best in the business. The contemptuous manner in which he constantly went down the track to clout the slow bowlers over their heads smacked of arrogance and his complete control over the spinners.

Inzamam is regarded amongst the best finishers in ODIs; having this natural ability to absorb every bit of pressure he was composure personified in the tensest of situations, time and again he dug his team out of the deep hole and guided them towards victory. Inzi was a master when it came to batting with the lower order, he not only was able to found the strike on the last or the penultimate balls of every over with consummate ease but even instilled confidence in his partners to support him till the very end.

Though a natural when it came to soaking up the pressure, somehow he failed to come up to expectation in his last two World Cup appearances. In 2003 he was in the prime form of his career and much depended on his batting but to the utter disappointment of his teammates and fans alike he could only muster 16 runs during the ill-fated tournament and Pakistan for the first time in World Cup history failed to go beyond the first round. History repeated itself in the very next edition of the mega event, when the experienced trio of skipper Inzamam, Mohamamd Yousuf and Younis Khan failed to deliver the goods in the crucial ties against the West Indies and Ireland, and the team suffered an even more embarrassing situation from the 2003 fiasco. Most including the chief selector Wasim Bari put the blame wholly and squarely on Inzamam for Pakistan’s poor show in the ongoing World Cup since he was bestowed with all the powers and he also had complete say in selection of the squad. He only he proved a mug with the bat, his leadership was also found wanting. He was not able to lift his own performance level nor could he motivate his team to give its best when the chips were down.

Inzamam was appointed stand-in skipper of the national team in 2004 after Rashid Latif was suspended for five ODIs for claiming an illegal catch. He was later appointed the regular captain, albeit controversially, in place of the ace wicket-keeper, under whose captaincy the side appeared to have gelled well and the performance graph of this newly built team was gradually going up. In the absence of any substantial challenge to his throne, now the bearded and more inclined towards religion Inzamam continued to hold the sway over the team affairs for an unusually long tenure – from Pakistan’s standards – of three years. History will judge whether he enjoyed as much success as the leader as he did with the bat. Pakistan’s cricket is chocked with stories about internal politics and serious differences among the senior players of the team and in this context, Inzamam must be hailed for uniting the team on one front, for them he was not only the on-the-field captain but also their spiritual leader. Some critics even point out that one of the causes of the decline in performance was too much emphasis on the religion whereby the team was distracted from their actual goal of bringing laurels for the country.

Pakistan’s performance under Inzamam’s leadership was satisfactory till the series against England in the 2006 summer with commendable displays in away series in India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. However incredibly and quite inexplicably all fell apart from England tour onwards. Successive injuries to key players meant Pakistan fielded under-strength elevens in Test matches against England, who are always very difficult to beat in their own backyard. These below par and against expectations results were followed by the Oval Test fiasco, which though instigated by umpire Daryl Hair ended in forfeiture by Pakistan, the first in the history of Test cricket. Inzamam was banned for ODIs and in his absence Pakistan suffered another ignominious setback in the Champions Trophy played in India in October.

A poor South African series was followed by the World Cup debacle where Pakistan not only lost to Ireland but also had to suffer the loss of its popular coach Bob Woolmer. Inzamam’s class as batsman is beyond a shred of doubt – he is only the second Pakistani after Javed Miandad to have scored more than 8000 runs in Test cricket – though his qualities as a captain will always come under debate. It is however unfortunate that a great career had to end on such a disappointing and humiliating note.

[Geordie Ahmed]

brilliant article - enjoyed reading that

We will certainly miss Inzi (tho hopefully we will still get to witness his genius in test cricket for a while)

[azfar wali]

great article

[Oxy]

Cracking article Farooqi saab! About time there was a thread where us Inzi fans could take shelter!

[Saj]

Another cracking article from Ayaz sahib.

[Disco_Lemonade]

Inzamam is regarded amongst the best finishers in ODIs; having this natural ability to absorb every bit of pressure

Was a True Champion under pressure. Great article, Inzi deserves every bit of applause for the amazing innings he played under pressure specially against arch rivals India.

[salman24]

Good stuff

[hellopak]

Well balanced article. Good articulation of the fact. Nice acknowledgement of Imran judgement and trust.

Wish Inzi was also discovering some talent for Pakistan before departing from the Internation cricket scene. Rather he persisted with likes of Rana, Rao, Akmal, Kaneria and co.

But salute to his services as a batsman to Pakistan and thus world of cricket.

[Saqlain_doosra]

Finally we have some one giving Inzi credit for batting pakistan to so many victories. We will miss even more, when he's not around for next tour.

[vortex619]

A very nice read- great article!

[The Godfather]

good read / we wil miss inzi thats for sure

[khilari]

excellent writing.. does full justice to inzi

[Farhad]

The sharp eyes of Imran Khan had spotted the precious jewel in the 22-year old innocent looking lad and Inzamam was included in the World Cup bound squad purely on his persuasion. Even during the competition he persisted with the youngster despite opposition from senior pros like Javed Miandad after initial failures. Later events and the exploits Inzamam realized in his career proved that Imran was spot on in his judgment.

That WC'92 Semi when all seemed to be sliding out of Pak's reach as another batsman departed. Miandad could be seen waving from the crease to Imran asking for a "left-hander" (Wasim obviously), but Imran knew which man was perfect for that task in that situation and in strode his choice, Inzamam.

[Easa]

That is a fantastic article, well done Farooqi saab.