Imam aims to prove T20 skills in Pakistan Super League

DUBAI: When Imam ul Haq first got the limelight, he had several challenges waiting for him to cope with - one of them was of being nephew of former Pakistan captain Inzamam ul Haq, who’s now also country’s chief selector.

However, the stylish opening batsman didn’t let the continuous question marks dent his career and this year he became second fastest player to complete 1000 ODI runs, only one innings behind Fakhar Zaman who reached the milestone in 18 innings.

The 23-year-old has now become a regular feature in Pakistan’s ODI and Test teams but he has yet to feature in T20Is. Probably because not too many people consider him good enough for T20.

However, the left-handed batsman is aiming to change this perception about him during this PSL in which he’s representing Peshawar Zalmi.

“This is a great opportunity for me to prove my worth as a T20 player. I will try to give my best here and get myself selected for Pakistan T20I team,” he told Geo.tv after Zalmi’s training session in Sharjah.

“I don’t give ear to what people say about me, I have faith in my ability and that’s the key. People say that I’m not a T20 player although I haven’t got much chance to play the shortest format to prove myself. In PSL now, I will try to show that I can play T20s as well,” Imam said.

The opening batsman says he’s aiming to become a successful batsman in all three formats of the game and he’s confident that he will transform his recent ODI form into T20 format.

“I also want to cement my place in all three formats of game because it is very necessary to be successful in all three formats to become a successful cricketer. I have done well recently in ODIs, and T20Is is not too much different from ODIs now, only that as an opener you need to accelerate a bit in power play,” Imam added.

The 23-year-old said that playing leagues is always a good learning experience as players get a chance to share dressing room with top of the players from around the world.

“These leagues help you learn from others’ experience,” he said.

Imam went on to say that he has set his eyes on the World Cup and this league is a good opportunity for him to prepare for the big event.

He also spoke about his feelings on being criticised, mostly because of being related to team’s chief selector.

“I now try not to react to critics but sometimes I can’t control my emotions I think I should not react as critics are there doing their job and my job is to perform well and answer with my bat not through my acts,” he said.

“I don’t mind criticism, this is part and parcel of a cricketer’s career but sometime personal comments hurt. I have reached to this point after coming through a system. I played U16 and U19, have toured with Pakistan A and played FC cricket as well, so if it’s better if my record also comes into account before forming any opinion,” Imam concluded.