INZAMAM UL HAQ (PAKISTAN)

Introduction:

Inzamam-ul-Haq (born 3 March 1970), also known as Inzy, is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of modern cricket. He is the leading run scorer for Pakistan in One Day Cricket and second highest run scorer for Pakistan in Test cricket, after Javed Miandad. He was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team from 2003-07 and is considered to be one of the best leaders in Pakistan Cricket history.

Inzamam ul Haq rose to fame in the semi final of the 1992 Cricket World Cup, in which he scored 60 

off 37 balls against a strong New Zealand team. His strong batting performance also propelled Pakistan to victory in the final of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. He remained one of the team's leading batsmen throughout the decade in both Test and ODI cricket. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the Pakistan team. His tenure as captain ended after Pakistan's early exit from the 2007 Cricket World Cup. On 5 October 2007, Inzamam ul Haq retired from international cricket following the second Test match against South Africa, falling three runs short of Javed Miandad as Pakistan's leading run scorer in Test cricket. Following his retirement, he joined the Indian Cricket League, captaining the Hyderabad Heroes in the inaugural edition of the T20 competition. In the ICL's second edition, he captained the Lahore Badshahs, a team composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers.

Inzamam ul Haq is a prominent member of the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary organisation, and remains an influential personality in Pakistan cricket.

Career:

Inzamam ul Haq made his ODI debut in a home series against West Indies in 1991, and made a good start to his career by scoring 20 and 60 runs in two matches against West Indies. This was followed by 48, 60, 101, and 117 runs against Sri Lanka.

Handpicked by former Pakistan captain Imran Khan for the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 22 year old Inzamam ul Haq 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, despite not being very successful early on. Yet it was his performances at the most crucial stage of the competition that made fans and summarisers take note. Inzamam ul Haq rose to fame in Pakistan's dramatic semi final against New Zealand at Auckland. With his side in a precarious position, chasing 262 against an impressive New Zealand side, he hit a fiery 60 run innings from just 37 balls to rescue his side and guide them into the final. The innings was regarded as one of the finest World Cup performances. He hit a massive six in that match which was described by David Lloyd as the shot of the tournament.

Inzamam ul Haq made an equally vital contribution in the final of the World Cup, scoring 42 runs off just 35 balls, helping Pakistan reach a score of 249 after a sluggish start. These innings established Inzamam ul Haq's billing as a big game player, although he was unable to replicate his World Cup success in later tournaments. Inzamam ul Haq regard his best least highlighted innings of 90 not out against West Indies when Pakistan won their first ODI in the West Indies on 27 March 1993.

In total, Inzamam ul Haq set a record for scoring the most half centuries in One Day Internationals, 83 though this is now surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara. He also became the second batsman to score 10,000 runs in One day Internationals ''again after Tendulkar'' and was named in the ICC World XI for both Tests and One day Internationals in the 2005 ICC Awards. In his final ODI for Pakistan, playing against Zimbabwe in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he took three catches whilst fielding, including the last one of the match, ending his One Day career.

Inzamam ul Haq made his Test debut in 1992 against England at Edgbaston. He had little opportunity to make an impact in that match he was not out with a score of 8. However, in subsequent matches he demonstrated vulnerability against swing bowling which resulted in his being dropped for the final Test of the series after averaging a lowly 13.20 runs per innings.Pakistan went on to secure a famous win in the match, taking the series 2-1.

After the England series, Inzamam ul Haq aimed to establish himself in the Test side and he achieved this brilliantly, helping his side to many memorable victories. One of particular note came against Australia in Karachi, 1994, when he made 58 not out with the tail and helped Pakistan to a one wicket victory and a 1-0 series win. As well as helping his side to become the top ranked side in the world for a brief period, he achieved personal success by becoming ICC's number one ranked batsman in 1995 He later went on to reclaim top spot in the rankings

 in 1997. He remained amongst the top 20 ranked batsmen up until his retirement. He was the number one batsman in the world three times and held the title of the 3rd best batsman several times in his career including a long run from 2004-2006, the last time being after his twin fifties at Lord sagainst England in 2006. The tour of England in 1996 was a particular success for both Inzamam ul Haq and Pakistan, where Inzamam ul Haq transformed his batting against seam bowling, averaging 64 runs per innings, with scores of 148, 70, 65, and 35. His Test career highlights include 329 against New Zealand in Lahore in the 2001-02 season, which is the second highest Test score by a Pakistani and the twelfth highest overall. He also scored a century ''184 runs'' in his 100th Test, becoming only the fifth player to do so ''after Colin Cowdrey, Alec Stewart, Gordon Greenidge and Javed Miandad, Ricky Ponting subsequently emulated the feat''. Inzamam ul Haq made a century in each innings of the second Test match against England in 2005, to become Pakistan's leading centurion with 24 centuries, breaking Javed Miandad's record. His 25th century in the 2nd Test against India on 22 January 2006 made him the 10th player to score 25 or more centuries. He also managed 138 not out when the team was on the brink of a humiliating defeat against Bangladesh, eventually saving the Test match and leading his team to victory. His 92 not out against South Africa in late 2006 again showed his ability to bat in a 

crisis in a match winning manner. He scored twin half centuries when all appeared lost to draw the first test in Mohali against India in 2005, and also scored 184 runs in his 100th test match in the same away series causing the series to be drawn. He still holds the record for most consecutive half centuries against a country with nine in nine innings against England. This streak started from 31 May 2001 and lasted till 13 July 2006. He scored a century and a half century at Lords in 1996. His 118 against Australia in Hobart almost won the test for Pakistan but Adam Gilchrist's match winning 149 not out made the difference. His average in matches won is second only to Donald Bradman and Kumar Sangakkara.

After announcing that he would retire after the second Test against South Africa, at the stadium where he made his international debut, Inzamam ul Haq needed 20 runs to surpass Javed Miandad for the record of most runs for a Pakistani Test cricketer. After falling for 14 in the first innings, he was dismissed for 3 in his final innings by Paul Harris, out stumped, leaving him three runs shy of the record. He needed only 70 more career runs for a batting average of 50.

In 2007, Inzamam ul Haq joined the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. In the inaugural competition, Inzamam ul Haq captained the Hyderabad Heroes and scored 141 runs in 5 matches. In the 2008 competition in March, Inzamam ul Haq captained the Lahore Badshahs, composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers. The move to the ICL has proved to be a controversial one for Inzamam ul Haq. The PCB's stance on players joining unsanctioned leagues has meant that he has been banned from playing in any domestic competitions in Pakistan or any involvement with the international team. However, given Inzamam ul Haq's recent retirement, this is unlikely to affect him.

It is reported that he was paid Pakistani Rs. 10 Crore ''US $1,100,000'' which was the highest salary for any player participating in the league along with the likes of Brian Lara.

Captaincy:

Inzamam ul Haq captained Pakistan in thirty Tests, winning eleven, drawing nine and losing ten. 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 ul Haq. Although the Oval Test match in 2006 was poised as a victory for Pakistan before the controversy took place and had it not occurred, Inzamam ul Haq's record would have had a win more and a loss less. However, Inzamam ul Haq held the captaincy until March 2007, the longest captaincy tenure since 1992, when Imran Khan retired.

Captaincy had a positive effect on Inzamam ul Haq's batting, often leading by example in pressure situations, averaging greater as a captain 52 than without 50. In ODI's Inzamam ul Haq also held the 

highest average as captain in ODI's and is currently third on that list behind the former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After early failures in Australia, he took a depleted Pakistan side to India in 2005 and played an important role in securing a draw by winning the final test match from an unlikely position with an innings of 184 runs. He subsequently led 

his side to an ODI success against West Indies 'away', England 'home' and Sri Lanka 'away' as well as Test Series victories against England 'home', India 'home', Sri Lanka 'away'. Inzamam ul Haq had seemed to have united the Pakistan side and victories led them to 2nd place in the ICC Test Rankings and 3rd place in the ICC ODI Ranking. The latter part of Inzamam ul Haq's tenure as Pakistan captain was less successful and the team was embroiled in many controversies culminating in a disappointingly early exit from the 2007 Cricket World Cup at the hands of lowly ranked Ireland.

In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Inzamam ul Haq captained the Pakistani team to its first loss to associate ICC member Ireland 'onSt Patrick's Day'. This result and their previous loss to West Indies, led to them being knocked out of the tournament. A day later he announced his retirement from One Day International Cricket and resignation as Test captain. The announcement was made the same day that Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach, died in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica. He dedicated his final ODI to Woolmer to whom he shared a good relationship with for three years and affectionately called him ''The Bob''.

Playing Style:

Inzamam ul Haq has been known to be a very destructive batsman in both One Day Internationals ODIs and Test matches. He has the ability to pick the length of a delivery very early and play very late. His footwork is generally considered to be fast, enabling him to position himself early for shots. He averaged just under 50 runs per innings in Tests and nearly 40 runs in ODIs, with a strike rate of 54.03 and 74.23 respectively. Inzamam ul Haq is especially strong when playing shots 

off his legs and has been considered to be amongst the best employers of the pull shot in world cricket.

His batting style has brought him fans from all over the world. He was called "the best batsmen in the world against pace" by Imran Khan, because "he seems to have so much time on his hands before the ball reaches him". Inzamam ul Haq does, however, have a reputation for being a poor runner between the wickets. He has the dubious distinction of being run out the second highest number of times in ODIs having been run out 40 times behind Marvan Atapattu 41 times.

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