Imam-ul-Haq fears that he'll never be able to shake off the nepotism tag

Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq expressed his fears that he’d never be able to shake off the nepotism tag. Ever since he has made his debut, there have been talks about this. Imam is the nephew of former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. Thus, many feel that the legendary cricketer had a say in the inclusion of the left-hander in the side.

Imam-ul-Haq, just 23 years old, made his ODI debut for Pakistan in 2017. Since then, he played 36 games and accumulated 1692 runs at a fabulous average of 54.58. However, he has failed to establish himself in the longest format of the game where he only mustered 483 runs in 10 matches at an average of 28.41. In his career thus far, Imam played in just one T20I game.

Will be pleased if people accept me as Imam-ul-Haq

Imam-ul-Haq feels that the nepotism tag won’t change. He said that people will never accept him. However, he added that he will be pleased if people accept him for who he is rather than as someone’s nephew.

“I don’t think it will change, unfortunately,” the left-hander told The Cricketer. “The people will never accept me. That’s what I think. I will be very pleased if people were to accept me as Imam-ul-Haq and not as someone’s nephew,” said Imam.

Imam-ul-Haq also cleared the misconception that Inzamam-ul-Haq instructed Mickey Arthur to select him. He said that we live in a time where nothing can be hidden from the media. Imam noted that he wouldn’t be in the team without good performances.

“People think he [Inzamam] instructed Mickey Arthur to select me,” he said. “People need to realize that we are living in a time where you can’t hide anything from the media. I won’t be in the team without my performance. They don’t see that I’ve gone through the process. They only see that I’m a nephew of Inzamam and they believe that they have the right to criticise me. I cry a lot when Pakistan lose. Its hurts me if people criticise Babar Azam or Mohammad Amir,” he said. “I know what we all go through to give our best for the team,” said Imam.