Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq: “I am always criticised no matter if I am on the team or not. I am not sad about the criticism because my job is to perform”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq said he is used to being criticised all the time as he his critics always have something to say, regardless of whether he is in the national team or not.
He noted that he has learned to ignore them as he knows his job when playing for Pakistan is to score runs at the top of the order.
He did exactly that in the Test series against Australia as he accumulated 370 runs, which included two centuries and a fifty, at an average of 74.
He followed that up with a brilliant hundred in the first ODI against Australia on Tuesday.
Imam made 103 off 96 balls, which included six boundaries and three sixes, but his efforts went in vain as Pakistan lost the match by 88 runs.
“I am always criticised no matter if I am on the team or not. I am not sad about the criticism because my job is to perform,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The second ODI will be held on Thursday in Lahore.
Pakistan’s ODI squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir
Pakistan’s T20I squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir