Monday, August 07, 2006

Inzamam's uncanny ability


The caption under these photos in Cricinfo read "It's unfortunate but you take it as part of the Inzamam experience - mostly a lot of class and occasionally a little comedy"

The above pictures reflect a light-hearted moment of the popular Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul-Haq's dismissal. But take nothing away from Inzamam.

Imzamam, 36, is a tower of strength and his batting style has brought him fans from all over the world. It is said that he loathes exercise and often looks a passenger in the field. He keeps a cool head in a crisis and has succeeded Javed Miandad as Pakistan's premier batsman, but his hapless running between wickets is legendary and most dangerous for his partners.

Inzamam has scored 25 Test 100s and Pakistan has won 17 of the matches in which he has scored 100s. That can be contrasted that with some other modern day great players, like Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored only 11 100s in won matches out of his overall 35, and Brian Lara who has only 8 out of his 29 hundreds in won matches. Inzamam's average in won Test matches is over 80 which is second best only to Don Bradman. His ability to play at his best under pressure is widely accepted among critics.

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