Imam-ul-Haq: “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”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq has admitted that there was a point where he was struggling to handle the pressure, which is where captain Babar Azam played a big role in helping him overcome the problem.
Imam acknowledged that he “didn’t know what to do” and was glad that Azam was able to support him in his time of need.
He added that when the 28-year-old world-class batsman ever has doubts, they sit together and discuss the issue.
“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 also discussed them,” Imam told PCB Digital as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam is currently leading the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Imam was not picked by any team.
In the nine matches he has played, Azam has amassed 416 runs, which includes a century and four fifties, at an average of 52 and a strike-rate of 146.47.
The Zalmi will now face Islamabad United in Eliminator 1 on Thursday.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8:Â Babar Azam, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal, Salman Irshad, Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Arshad Iqbal, Saim Ayub, Usman Qadir, Suifyan Muqeem, Haseebullah, Jimmy Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail, Richard Gleeson (partial replacement for Rovman Powell), Peter Hatzoglou (partial replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman), Shakib Al Hasan (available for playoffs), Azmatullah Omarzai