Farewell - Inzi

[Lurker]

Not sure where I rank Inzzy in the list of great batsmen that I have had the pleasure to watch. My first memory of him is from way back in 1992. Before he exploded in semis and finals(and caught world's attention) he was having a torrid time. I remember like yesterday the Indo-Pak game in which Kapil cleaned up Inzzy for very little. An old master taking out a young protege and Inzzy walking slowly towards the pavillion. As much as I loved Kapil I felt sorry for Inzzy, I mean he was about 17-18 and he seemed heartbroken. Not for long though, soon enough he won Pakistan two games when it really mattered. In fact I have always rated Wasim/Inzzy/Mushtaq(in that order) as the reason why Pakistan triumphed in 1992 finals. As a fan who watched the entire game live I must say Imran's contribution in that game is massively overrated. Since then Inzzy was the pillar around which Pakistan's batting thrived. Yes Anwar was there of course but he did not really last that long. A statistics that shall always go in favour of Inzzy is the sheer amount of runs he has scored when Pakistan won. If only Pakistan had another Inzzy they may very well have been the dominant team of the 90s, who knows. I personally think Miandad was a much better player than Inzzy overall, more so since he played a more varied attack, but Inzzy wasnt too far behind either. Great bat and a very calming presence whenever Pakistan were in trouble. xxx

[MundaPakistani]

Not sure where I rank Inzzy in the list of great batsmen that I have had the pleasure to watch. My first memory of him is from way back in 1992. Before he exploded in semis and finals(and caught world's attention) he was having a torrid time. I remember like yesterday the Indo-Pak game in which Kapil cleaned up Inzzy for very little. An old master taking out a young protege and Inzzy walking slowly towards the pavillion. As much as I loved Kapil I felt sorry for Inzzy, I mean he was about 17-18 and he seemed heartbroken. Not for long though, soon enough he won Pakistan two games when it really mattered. In fact I have always rated Wasim/Inzzy/Mushtaq(in that order) as the reason why Pakistan triumphed in 1992 finals. As a fan who watched the entire game live I must say Imran's contribution in that game is massively overrated. Since then Inzzy was the pillar around which Pakistan's batting thrived. Yes Anwar was there of course but he did not really last that long. A statistics that shall always go in favour of Inzzy is the sheer amount of runs he has scored when Pakistan won. If only Pakistan had another Inzzy they may very well have been the dominant team of the 90s, who knows. I personally think Miandad was a much better player than Inzzy overall, more so since he played a more varied attack, but Inzzy wasnt too far behind either. Great bat and a very calming presence whenever Pakistan were in trouble. xxx

Why do you think it's overrated?

[The Outsider]

Athers: Have you thought about your post retirement career ? Inzi: I is do commentary. Arun Lal big inspiration. I is sign 4 year contract with Animal Planet. Athers: Whats your biggest regret in your career ? Inzi: Harami log, McGrath and Donald. I join ICL, Saala McGrath too join ICL. I quit ICL, retire now.

:cantstop::cantstop:

[Lurker]

Why do you think it's overrated?

Not to take the attention away from the thread MP but yes I do beleive Imran's contribution in 1992 finals in overrated, actually you can include the semis too. See in the semi-finals(against NZ) Pakistan had their back to the wall. Thanks mainly to the slow batting of Imran and Miandad. But while Miandad did manage to explode in the end, Imran wasted quite a few balls and was dismissed for 44 runs in 93 deliveries. Had it not been for Inzzy and his 37 ball 60 Pakistan were out of the tournament right there. In the finals it was little different. Yes in the end the scorecard shall show 72 runs against Imran's name but he batted so darn slow that practically put Pakistan out of the game. If you exclude Akram and Inzzy's late onslaught (75 in 9 overs) Pakistan scored 175 or so in 40 plus overs, a score English batting line-up would have easily overhauled. Of all the WC finals the one I can not sit and watch is 1992 finals when Pakistan bats, and no it has nothing to do with me being Indian. I can recall vividly how Pakistan were 75 or so in 30 overs!!! And it was not exactly that Imran was battling Marshall out there, he was battling Pringle and an aging Botham, kept getting beaten constantly and if I am not mistaken Gooch dropped a tough catch as well. Hardly an innings of note really. No wonder if people think of great innings in WC finals they think of Richards's, Lloyds's, De Silva's, Ponting, even Boon but Imran's innings never comes up. And when he came on to bowl he got plastered, again from my memory he had the worst economical rate. Skippership? Well thats a different story, Imran was always a tremendous leader. xxx

[Anakin]

:thumbs_up: to Inzy

[Ram]

Inzamam will always be remembered as one the best batsman ever , but when a list is drawn for the all time greats, his name wont figure in it, in all probability. Despite his glowing numbers , he was over-shadowed , both in consistency and in number or number of match-winning performances by Sachin, Ponting,Lara,Kallis.

[veer]

Farewell Inzy.. :two_thumbs_up:

[theguyinallblue]

at least he is out of the circus called PCB... he can live with respect and his dignity intact... now no fear of dieting...exercise... ab jee bhar ke Biryani aur aaloo parathe khana....

[DravidDaBest]

Not to take the attention away from the thread MP but yes I do beleive Imran's contribution in 1992 finals in overrated, actually you can include the semis too. See in the semi-finals(against NZ) Pakistan had their back to the wall. Thanks mainly to the slow batting of Imran and Miandad. But while Miandad did manage to explode in the end, Imran wasted quite a few balls and was dismissed for 44 runs in 93 deliveries. Had it not been for Inzzy and his 37 ball 60 Pakistan were out of the tournament right there. In the finals it was little different. Yes in the end the scorecard shall show 72 runs against Imran's name but he batted so darn slow that practically put Pakistan out of the game. If you exclude Akram and Inzzy's late onslaught (75 in 9 overs) Pakistan scored 175 or so in 40 plus overs, a score English batting line-up would have easily overhauled. Of all the WC finals the one I can not sit and watch is 1992 finals when Pakistan bats, and no it has nothing to do with me being Indian. I can recall vividly how Pakistan were 75 or so in 30 overs!!! And it was not exactly that Imran was battling Marshall out there, he was battling Pringle and an aging Botham, kept getting beaten constantly and if I am not mistaken Gooch dropped a tough catch as well. Hardly an innings of note really. No wonder if people think of great innings in WC finals they think of Richards's, Lloyds's, De Silva's, Ponting, even Boon but Imran's innings never comes up. And when he came on to bowl he got plastered, again from my memory he had the worst economical rate. Skippership? Well thats a different story, Imran was always a tremendous leader. xxx

I disagree. Imran contributed immensely for Pakistan win inf the finals. Imran & Javed batted slowly on purpose so that they don't lose wickets. Remember Pakistan were all out for 72 in group matches against the same old England (Rain saved Pak there). It was a good solid tactic of not losing wickets and then explode in the end. Our last match against Australia is a good example why that theory still holds good

[Lurker]

I disagree. Imran contributed immensely for Pakistan win inf the finals. Imran & Javed batted slowly on purpose so that they don't lose wickets. Remember Pakistan were all out for 72 in group matches against the same old England (Rain saved Pak there). It was a good solid tactic of not losing wickets and then explode in the end. Our last match against Australia is a good example why that theory still holds good

Disagreed. Pakistan in finals had atleast 6 good batsman Sohail Rameez Miandad Inzzy Saleem Malik Ijaz 1 solid keeper bat Moin Khan 2 all-rounder who could bat well Imran Akram and two bowlers - Mushtaq and Aaqib, both no mugs with bat either. So essentially with a team that had about 9 people who could throw around a bat, to have a score of 75 in 30 overs is pure bad showing. xxx

[DravidDaBest]

Disagreed. Pakistan in finals had atleast 6 good batsman Sohail Rameez Miandad Inzzy Saleem Malik Ijaz 1 solid keeper bat Moin Khan 2 all-rounder who could bat well Imran Akram and two bowlers - Mushtaq and Aaqib, both no mugs with bat either. So essentially with a team that had about 9 people who could throw around a bat, to have a score of 75 in 30 overs is pure bad showing. xxx

The SAME TEAM that you specified above played in the round match and was all out for 72 against SAME ENGLAND.

[kabira]

Lurks, pakistan played with that strategy..save wickets..do not lose herds of wickets.. Even in 1999 wc they had similar stratey and it worked wonders for them..We saw Razzaq coming one down and just waste deliveries and stay put..

[Lurker]

The SAME TEAM that you specified above played in the round match and was all out for 72 against SAME ENGLAND.

So?? Would that be the first time a team was dismissed for low score? If anything it only shall lead me to speculate how good Imran was as a skipper to load his team with 6 specialist batsman and then let them wait while he went up the order. Kabira, yes I can understand the strategy and everything if it worked that way. Fact of the matter is when Imran was dismissed Pakistan were about 190 or so in 44 overs. Had it not been for Akram/Inzzy they would have ended around 230 in 50, not very different from what England eventually made(227) xx

[Predator_05]

First time i watched him play was in the '95 Asia Cup vs India. Srinath and Prasad had reduced PAK to 100/5 (or thereabouts) and looked set to run through their batting lineup. In walked Inzamam, and he scored a brilliant 88 - stifling the Indian bowlers and dragging the team forward. Akram finished off the innings with a flourish by hitting some sixes and PAK finished with a decent 250+ score. Then they knocked out the Indian batting lineup for under 200 I have never really rated him as highly as others, to be honest. When we watched IND-PAK matches during that decade, the batsmen we feared most was Anwar - he was pure class. But there is no denying that Inzamam has been a rock for Pakistan throughout all these years. He has played some pretty decent knocks, although he never did that well against the better bowlers. Still, he played plenty of great innings against India. The thing about Inzamam is that once he got his eye in, he was really hard to get out. That 122 at Karachi was an EPIC - the Indian bowlers had no clue where to bowl to him. Easily one of the top 5 ODI innings i have seen against India.

[Bumper]

Lurker is absolutely right. 1992 Pak batting in finals, sucked for the first 30 overs, even on a highlight tape. Imran's contribution to Pakistan as a leader is unquestionable. But as a player he was more of a burden in the 1992 world cup. Just think why this man would want to bat up the order, when there were better batters in the team ? Imran was hardly better than a journeyman bowler in 92 cup. The only way he could justify his spot as a player is by contributing something with the bat. It suited his story at that time, that wicket conservation was the key. But IMO, Imran batted at the top ahead of better batters, to save his own spot. His speech while lifting the cup, only highlighted how self centered he was. Because he was a great leader and had great success with the team, all his negatives did not surface.

[Lurker]

Just think why this man would want to bat up the order, when there were better batters in the team ? Imran was hardly better than a journeyman bowler in 92 cup. The only way he could justify his spot as a player is by contributing something with the bat. It suited his story at that time, that wicket conservation was the key. But IMO, Imran batted at the top ahead of better batters, to save his own spot. His speech while lifting the cup, only highlighted how self centered he was. Because he was a great leader and had great success with the team, all his negatives did not surface.

Fair point that. Look at it this way. Imran was never an explosive batsman anyway. Sure he could launch big hits every now and then but how many explosive innings of his comes to your mind when you think of Imran? He was always the batsman who ecked out his talent and scored runs. In this sense he was better(or worse - depends how you see it) from a Kapil or a Botham. I can still understand that Imran was keeping the wickets intact had the blasters been players with atleast 50-60, if not 100 LOI, under their belt. But to pin your hopes on Inzzy who had barely played a dozen game and Akram who was also in his early 20s then definitely does not hold water. xxxx

[kabira]

why blame Imran...Javed Miandad had worse SR in that game. and Pakistan were 2 down for 20 odd runs..their most prolific batsman Rameez Raja back in hut, so it was necessary to build a partnership

[Bumper]

Fair point that. Look at it this way. Imran was never an explosive batsman anyway. Sure he could launch big hits every now and then but how many explosive innings of his comes to your mind when you think of Imran? He was always the batsman who ecked out his talent and scored runs. In this sense he was better(or worse - depends how you see it) from a Kapil or a Botham. I can still understand that Imran was keeping the wickets intact had the blasters been players with atleast 50-60, if not 100 LOI, under their belt. But to pin your hopes on Inzzy who had barely played a dozen game and Akram who was also in his early 20s then definitely does not hold water. xxxx

But Lurker it was the same Inzi who played the best ODI innings ever played by a Pakistani batsman till then, in the semis. He should have definitely batted at the top of the order along with Miandad, who was the perfect man for the anchoring job. If you do not trust your batsman (Malik, Ijaz, Inzi etc) to bat at the top of the order, do not pick them. To give your entire batting lineup less than 15 overs to bat is ridiculous.

[King]

Farewell Inzi, do well whatever you do after retirement. Thanks for the entertainment.

[DravidDaBest]

So?? Would that be the first time a team was dismissed for low score? If anything it only shall lead me to speculate how good Imran was as a skipper to load his team with 6 specialist batsman and then let them wait while he went up the order. Kabira, yes I can understand the strategy and everything if it worked that way. Fact of the matter is when Imran was dismissed Pakistan were about 190 or so in 44 overs. Had it not been for Akram/Inzzy they would have ended around 230 in 50, not very different from what England eventually made(227) xx

1. 1999 world cup final ring a bell to you?? Pak all out for 125 inspite of having great bowling attack..they couldn't do a jack 2. Pakistan's top order is always suspect to new ball....1999 WC, Razzaq came 1 down to stop the possible collapse 3. Big hitters (Wasim & co) come into picture only in slog overs with wickets in hand 4. Pakistan had a good bowling lineup to defend decent total. England scored 227 bcos tailenders were not having any pressure and slogged. They were 180 for 8 (Would they have chased 230?)...Nope