Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq: “No, there are better ones”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan cricketer Imam-ul-Haq has admitted that he isn’t the best Test opener in the country, saying “there are better ones”.
Imam was given a run as Pakistan’s go-to opening batsman in the longest format and despite showing encouraging signs, it appears as if the selectors have moved on from him.
Currently, Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub are the first-choice openers in Test cricket.
Imam didn’t name which players he thought were better than him, but knows he isn’t as good as them at the moment.
“No, there are better ones,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Imam was recently in action in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad.
In the four matches he played for the Lions, he scored 212 runs, which included three fifties, at an average of 53.
He subsequently proceeded to represent Pakistan Television in the President’s Cup Grade-I (1-Day) tournament and finished with 157 runs in four games, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 78.50.
Imam didn’t feature in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, which the men in green lost 2-0.
He also wasn’t picked for the three-match Test series against England, which Pakistan won 2-1 to secure their first Test series victory at home since 2021.
Next up, Pakistan will tour Australia for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4 to 18.
They will then head to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
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