'Dil kiya ki chachu ko bolu,'meri kya galti thi?': Imam-ul-Haq on being compared with Inzamam-Ul-Haq

Pakistan cricketer, Imam Ul-Haq is hailed as a vital cog in the ODI team. He has been dishing out consistent performances in limited-overs cricket since he made his debut in 2017.

The southpaw has made the most of the opportunities presented to him in Test Cricket. The former Pakistan U19 player has played 54 One-Day internationals and has managed to score 2528 runs at an average of 52.66 including nine tons.

Besides, in 19 Tests, he has 1322 runs to his name at an average of 38.88 including three hundred.

For the unversed, Haq is the nephew of former Pakistan skipper, Inzamam Ul Haq. When the former put his feet in an international cricketer, fans would put a tag of ‘nepotism’ around him as Inzamam was the chief selector at the time.

Meanwhile, the opening batter spoke on how he dealt with the same. The 27-year-old said that it wasn’t easy for him while adding that he arrived in international cricket on the back of his impressive numbers in domestic cricket.

“Sach batau ko 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 said in an interview with Pakistan Cricket.

“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.”

Babar Azam played a big role in supporting him: Imam Ul Haq

The Lahore player singled out Babar Azam for helping him overcome one of the toughest phases of his career and helping him reach great heights in international cricket.

“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,” said mam.