How great was Inzamam Ul Haq?

[Harsh Thakor]

 

It was virtually Inzamam Ul Haq's divine intervention in the 1992 semi-final versus New Zeland that from the depths of despair ressurected Pakistan to the pinnacle of glory with one of the most exhilarating displays of batting ever witnessed.He simply turned the complexion of game reminiscent of a thunderstorm emerging in no mansland. It was this very character that Inzamam displayed throughout his carer surpassing any contemporary batsmen as a match-winners statistically,averaging 78+ in tests won ,with 17 of his 24 centuries ending up in wins.Morally Inzy averaged just above 50 ,including a triple century.For a sustained period of 6 years he averaged above 60 which was remarkable.Arguably no batsmen of his time was so adept against genuine pace or played it with such consummate ease.On his day Inzy was flamboyance personified and could be the ultimate man to ressurect a side from the grave.He lacked the technical correctness of Hanif Mohamad or the elegance of Zaheer Abbas or the determination of Javed Minadad but for pure prowess he may have even joined the Tendulkar's and Lara's.Inzy's batting had a characteristic languid style.His strokeplay blended the power of a motorboat to punish bowling with the craftsmanship of a weaver to dissect fields.He combined his razor sharp reflexes and footwork.He carried his bat like a lumberjack.Imran Khan ranked Inzy as the most talented batsmen of his time and best batsmen against pace.Inzy had the ability to take creativity in bating to metaphysical proportions.Above all he was a most un-selfish batsmen always putting the team's interest above his like when retiring before surpassing Javed Miandad's record aggregate of 8832 runs.

 

In Test cricket my most memorable moments of Inzamam werre his unbeaten 58 in 1994 at Karachi when he ressurected Pakistan from the grave to pull of a miracle in heroic last wicket stand ,his unbeaten 138 against Bangladesh in 2004 which again performed a Houdini act ,his century versus England in the 1st test on the home series in 2006 which won a test from a capricious position and his match-winning centuries  at Bangalore in 2005 enabling Pakistan to square the series.It is hard to envisage any Pakistan batsmen ever or any batsmen of his era who displayed so much coolness in a crisis to turn games and instill so much confidence to team mates.Inzamam 's innings have secured important wins for Pakistan in West Indies ,England ,India and New Zealand in tests.Javed was more consistent in a crisis but could not equal  Inzamam's ability to turn the complexion of games.Like Javed Miandad Inzamam was master in run chases in ODI's planning his innings with the precision of an architect and taking his side across the line with the flourish of a boxer.I would not be surprised that team mates or tail enders could be more inspired batting with Inzy than Sachin ,Lara or Ponting.He also proved his penchant for mammoth scores when scoring 329 versus New Zealand..His batting posessed a subtle element of wristwork to complement his power.I would have loved to witness Inzamam face Lillee and Thomson at their fastest and the great West Indies pace quartet.Somehow I would have backed Inzy to tackle them even better than Sachin or Lara who were not at their best against the bouncing delivery.Inzamam's batting could generate or boost a morale in his team mates more than any batsmen of his time.

However he was not a fast runner between wickets which could often contribute to his down fall.He was also not at his best against Australia and South Africa ,the premier teams of his day,both at home and away.He amassed more of his run son home turf and overseas he was at his best in New Zealand and West Indies where he averaged around 60.He was also consistent in England averaging close to 50.Arguably no batsmen played Ambrose or Walsh with such remorseless ease which he  proved with his big scores against West Indies,who even if a depleted side has great pacemen.At his best he was a revelation in South Africa when scoring 99 in 1994 playing Alan Donald like a spinner.Inzy often was troubled by the moving ball because of his cross bat technique and often be a leg before victim.

 

What goes against Inzamam was his inabilty to take Pakistan to the status of champion team in his era  unlike Javed Miandad,Zaheer Abbas and Majid Khan.He was almost as good as Miandad away ,but Javed fared better bowling.Consistently he did not display the application of a Rahul Dravid,Tendulkar,Lara or Ponting and could often look aloof.I would bracket Inzamam with batsmen like David Gower,V.V.S.Laxman,Gundappa Vishwanath ,Mark Waugh or Kevin Pieterson who all had outstanding natural talent but fell out because of lack of sheer application.In his era VVS Laxman was closest to Inzamam.I would select Inzamam amongst my 100 best cricketers and 50 best batsmen of all time .Inzamam is in major contention for the title of the best Pakistani batsmen of all time but overall  overshadowed just by a whisker by Javed Miandad or arguably Hanif Mohammad.His rank may be debated but in my book I would always award Inzamam the stature of a truly great batsmen and not just a very good one.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Harsh Thakor

[Ankit_sharma03]

hey bhagwan ur unstoppable 

 

One thing for sure when it came to runouts.....he was the greatest  

[Alarm Ringer]

That 329 was against NZ not against Bangladesh. Overall he was one of the coolest guy under pressure.

[Harsh Thakor]

5 minutes ago, Alarm Ringer said:

That 329 was against NZ not against Bangladesh. Overall he was one of the coolest guy under pressure.

Best Pakistani batsmen of all or in top 3?How did he compare in terms of pure talent with Sachin or Lara?

[Harsh Thakor]

8 minutes ago, Alarm Ringer said:

That 329 was against NZ not against Bangladesh. Overall he was one of the coolest guy under pressure.

Thanks for correction and sorry for error.Corrected

[Sandeep99]

59 minutes ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Best Pakistani batsmen of all or in top 3?How did he compare in terms of pure talent with Sachin or Lara?

Define pure talent

[adi B]

1 hour ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Best Pakistani batsmen of all or in top 3?How did he compare in terms of pure talent with Sachin or Lara?

Yup he is Greater than sachin and Lara,  in eating 

Edited October 4, 2019 by adi B

[sandeep]

1 hour ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Best Pakistani batsmen of all or in top 3?How did he compare in terms of pure talent with Sachin or Lara?

The blunt albeit harsh answer is, that he didn't.

[sandsaims]

You start the same threads on both forums.

[prinzo]

the diving runout of Inzamam by Jonty Rhodes will always be remembered , 

[Peshust]

Nowhere as good as Majid Khan.

[Peshust]

2 hours ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Inzamam Ul Haq's divine intervention

This guy was a God? Smoking good stuff it seems.

 

2 hours ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Somehow I would have backed Inzy to tackle them even better than Sachin or Lara who were not at their best against the bouncing deliver

Should we start with Inzamam's average in Australia/ South Africa and compare it with Sachin/ Lara? Clue: You would throw your toys out of your pram, baby. 

 

2 hours ago, Harsh Thakor said:

What goes against Inzamam was his inabilty to take Pakistan to the status of champion team in his era  unlike Javed Miandad,Zaheer Abbas and Majid Khan

Let me know when Pakistan was a champion team during any stage of Zaheer Abbas and Majid Khan's career. 

 

2 hours ago, Harsh Thakor said:

but in my book

Did it ever occur to you that you might have to pay people a large sum to read your book? 

Edited October 4, 2019 by Peshust

[cricketfan28]

Yes.

[Nikola]

Idk much about his batting but i used to fear him as kid and he never used to get out in odis in that time. 

[velu]

as per miandead , inzi was million times talented than sachin 

[Ankit_sharma03]

19 minutes ago, Nikola said:

Idk much about his batting but i used to fear him as kid and he never used to get out in odis in that time. 

yes use to hate him....him n younis both 

They were brilliant against our spinners . Remember few of the games where he controlled the game beautifully while chasing big total against us

[Gollum]

Imran Khan remembers the early Sachin - Little Master in same bracket as Lara and Inzamam, says former Pak captain

 

Pak delusions are incurable . 

 

Coming to Tauqir Bhai's OP....Aloo was definitely better than Bradman, Sobers, Smith, Viv, Tendu type gully players but a level below

[Nikola]

16 minutes ago, velu said:

as per miandead , inzi was million times talented than sachin 

you didn't have to declare him dead for saying such thing against your favorite player.

[Ankit_sharma03]

2 hours ago, Sandeep99 said:

Define pure talent

this is talent 

 

 

Extraordinary.....aise latete hue kisi ko nhin dekha

 

[Gollum]

Inzamam

Goat

Hence proved

Inzi=GOAT