By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : While announcing his retirement at the National Stadium in Karachi Friday, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said it was not easy to take the decision, but he took it after consulting friends and considering the realities.
“It’s a very difficult decision, but one has to take it towards the end of his career,” Haq, 37, told reporters. He said he took this decision after consulting friends and considering the realities.
“I told PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) that I am available for the Lahore Test and would be retiring after this match. They accepted it and now I would be playing my last Test,” said Haq who has already retired from One-Day cricket after a dismal performance earlier this year in the World Cup.
Inzamam-ul-Haq, known as Inzy among his fans and colleagues, is Pakistan’s second highest Test scorer after another former captain Javed Miandad. Inzi has made 8,812 runs in Test cricket, which is just 20 runs short of Miandad’s 8,832. He is confident that he will set a new national record in the Lahore Test.
“I feel that I could have played for two more years, but now after looking at the performance of youngsters, I think I should say goodbye to cricket,” said Haq. He said it would not be comfortable for the young boys if he was in team.
“The age difference is huge and I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable,” said Haq.
Pakistani cricketers have appreciated Inzy’s decision. “No doubt he’s a great batsman, but I believe he has taken this decision after giving it some thought,” another former captain Moeen Khan said.
Former Indian Test batsman and television commentator Sanjay Manjrekar once said that Inzamam is the world’s best batsman when it comes to playing under pressure.
Haq, born in southern Punjab city of Multan in March 1970, was captain of Pakistan team between 2003 and 2007. The right-handed batsman is regarded as one of the leading cricketers in modern times. At present, he plays for the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and has signed up to join the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Inzamam made his ODI debut in a home series against West Indies in 1991, and made a good start with 20 and 60 runs in two matches, followed by 48, 60, 101, and 117 against Sri Lanka.
Discovered by former Pakistan captain Imran Khan for the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the 22-year-old Inzamam was relatively unheard of before the tournament. To the surprise of many, he was persevered with throughout the tournament, coming in at various positions in the batting line-up.
It was his performances at the most crucial stage of the competition that made everyone take note. Inzamam rose to fame in Pakistan’s dramatic semi-final against New Zealand in Auckland.
His career highlights in the ODI form of the game include the semi-final knock in 1992 and scoring most fifties in One Day Internationals (83). He also became the second batsman to score 10,000 runs in One-day Internationals (after Sachin Tendulkar) and was named in the World Team XI for both test and One-day Internationals in the 2005 ICC Awards.
He made little impact during his 1992 Test debut against England at Edgbaston, with a score of eight. In subsequent matches he demonstrated a vulnerability to swing bowling, which resulted in him being dropped for the final Test after averaging a low 13.20 runs per innings. Pakistan went on to win this match taking the series 2-1.
Inzy’s Test career highlights include 329 runs against New Zealand in Lahore in the 2001-02 season, and the second highest Test score by a Pakistani and the 12th highest overall. He also scored a century (184) in his 100th Test, becoming only the fifth player to do so (the others being Colin Cowdrey, Alec Stewart, Gordon Greenidge and Javed Miandad, followed by Ricky Ponting).
Inzy got a century in each innings of the second Test against England in 2005, to become Pakistan’s leading centurion with 24 centuries, breaking Javed Miandad’s record, and his 25th century in the second Test against India in January 2006, which made him the 10th player to score 25 or more centuries.
He also managed 138 while facing a humiliating defeat against Bangladesh, eventually saving the Test match and leading his team to victory.
Inzamam captained Pakistan in 25 Tests, winning eight, drawing eight and losing nine. Only three players have captained Pakistan in more Test matches, but all have better win-loss records, and only Imran Khan has a lower win percentage than Inzamam.
However, Inzamam held the captaincy until March 2007, the longest captaincy tenure since 1992 when Imran Khan retired.