Inzamam-ul-huq profile

Full nameInzamam-ul-Haq

BornMarch 3, 1970, Multan, Punjab

Current age41 years

Major teamsPakistan, Asia XI, Faisalabad, ICC World XI,
Multan, National Bank of Pakistan, Rawalpindi, United Bank Limited

 

Batting style
Right-hand bat

Bowling style
Slow left-arm orthodox

 
Career statistics  
Pakistan international cricket player who was national captain between 2003 & 2007. He is a right-handed batsman who has been regarded as of the greatest batsmen of his period. He rose to fame in the semi-final of the 1992 world cup, in which he scored 60 of 37 balls against a potent Kiwi side On five October 2007, Inzamam retired from International cricket following the second Check match against South Africa, falling runs short of Javed Miandad as Pakistan's leading run scorer in Check cricket. Following his retirement, he joined the Indian Cricket League, captaining the Hyderabad Heroes in the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 competition. In the ICL's second edition, he captained the Lahore Badshahs, a team composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers. 
 
Profile
Inzamam-ul-Haq is a symbiosis of strength & subtlety. Power is no surprise, but sublime touch is outstanding for a man of his bulk. He loathes exercise & often looks a passenger in the field, but with a willow between his palms he is suddenly galvanized. He plays shots all round the wicket, is strong off his legs, & unleashes ferocious pulls & lofted drives. Imran Khan rates him the best batsman in the world against pace. Early on he is vulnerable playing across his front pad or groping outside off stump. He makes use of his feet well to the spinners, although this aggression can be his undoing. Inzi keeps a cold head in a crisis & has succeeded Javed Miandad as Pakistan's premier batsman, but his unlucky jogging between wickets is legendary & most hazardous for his partners. There were no such issues against New Zealand at a boiling Lahore in 2001-02, when Inzamam belted 329, the second-highest Check score by a Pakistani & the tenth-highest by anyone. However, he was then dogged by poor form, scoring 16 runs in Pakistan's ill-fated World Cup campaign in 2003. He was dropped from the team briefly, but then roared back to form, scoring a magnificent unbeaten 138 & guiding Pakistan to an exhilarating one-wicket win against Bangladesh at Multan. He was rewarded with the captaincy of the team, & despite leading them to victory in the Check series in New Zealand, question-marks about his leadership qualities surfaced when Pakistan were beaten in both the Check series & the one-dayers against India. But the selectors persevered with him & this bore results when he took a team narrow on bowling resources to India & drew the Check series with a rousing performance in the final Check, Inzamam's 100th. After scoring a magnificent 184, Inzamam led the team astutely on a tense final day & took Pakistan to victory. Since that day, Inzamam has gone from strength to strength as captain & premier batsman. By scoring a hundred against West Indies in June 2005, he kept up a outstanding record of match winning centuries, among the best of modern-day batsmen. A magnificent year ended with Inzamam leading his team to overcome Ashes-winning England; personally the series was arguably his best ever. He seldom failed to make a fifty, scored twin centuries at Faisalabad for the first time, going past Miandad as Pakistan's leading century-maker & joining him as only the second Pakistani with 8000 Check runs. As captain, he seldom looked more a leader, uniting a young, inexperienced team & turning them, one time again, in to a force to matter globally. The turn of the year brought contemplation; he missed the Check victory over India at Karachi with a persistent back injury. The later ODI thrashing also raised concerns about Inzamam as ODI captain, none of which were entirely wiped away in the work of ODI & Check wins in Sri Lanka. Pakistan were then beaten comprehensively in the Check series in England though all was forgotten - including Inzamam's own poor form - by events at The Oval. There, Inzamam, astonishingly for a man perceived as so insouciant, became the most controversial figure in cricket for a week, leading his side off the field in protest at charges of ball tampering made by umpires Billy Doc-trove and Darrell Hair. They refused to come out at first, then delayed the beginning before finally forfeiting the Check, the first time in the history of the game. In Pakistan, they became a national hero, Savior of a country's pride and Honor. Though nobody is saying it yet, the World Cup 2007 is likely to be his last act.