Imad Wasim: “I’ve been saying this for years, and people laughed at me. Even in team meetings, I pointed out that the world is going on a different path, and we’re still playing the same way”
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Pakistan left-arm spinner Imad Wasim has revealed that he was laughed at when warning that the men in green needed to change the way they were playing.
He noted that he has “been saying this for years”, but continued to be ignored.
Pakistan have failed to live up to expectations lately as during the 2025 Champions Trophy, they were eliminated in the group stage after going winless throughout their campaign.
They then travelled to New Zealand, but things continued to go downhill as they were thrashed 4-1 in the T20Is and whitewashed 3-0 in the ODIs.
Imad stressed that the men in green have to adopt a more attacking approach to international matches if they want to compete against the top teams in the world.
“I’ve been saying this for years, and people laughed at me. Even in team meetings, I pointed out that the world is going on a different path, and we’re still playing the same way,” the 36-year-old was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“I just did not want to watch (the Champions Trophy). But I had to watch. Look, the people will lose interest eventually. They won’t come and watch cricket if we play like this.
“You should play cricket like it should be played. This is not the right way. If you ask me as a cricketer, I watched some of the games of the Pakistan team [in the Champions Trophy] and I felt I just did not want to watch.
“So you see England, Australia or cricket I can understand the solution I’m telling you I can understand. Your first instinct should be to go out there and attack the opposition. And if you lose wickets, then you assess the conditions, okay, this is a 250, 260, 300 wicket, whatever. But your first instinct should just be to go out there and attack, not to think, ‘Let’s score 250.’ We are way behind where the world is.”
Like many of the Pakistan players, Imad featured in the recently-concluded 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he took 14 wickets in 11 matches for Islamabad United at an average of 19.85 and an economy rate of 7.12.
He also made 81 runs, which included a top score of 56, at an average of 16.20 and a strike-rate of 108.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which will take place in Lahore from May 28 to June 1.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub
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