Inzamam-ul-Haq recalls incident of Imran Khan 'taking over captaincy' against India in 2004

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq recalled an incident when Imran Khan ‘took over the captaincy’ in an ODI match against India in 2004. The game was marked as the celebration of BCCI’s platinum jubilee in which the Pakistan team was invited. Pakistan defeated India by six wickets in that match with Salman Butt scoring an unbeaten century.

Sourav Ganguly’s India, batting first in that game posted a total of 292 runs with Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag scoring fifties. Pakistan then chased the score with an over to spare with the fifties from Inzamam and Shoaib Malik. The left-handed Butt was the hero of the game, who in spite of getting injured, took the team to victory at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

I thought I’m the captain who is sending me messages: Inzamam-ul-Haq

The former captain mentioned how he handled the pressures of the match and also talked about Imran Khan following the match from the dressing room. “It was just only one match so the pressure was much more. The second big pressure was of Imran Khan, who was watching the match from our dressing room. I have played under Imran Bhai,” Inzamam said while interacting on his YouTube channel.

He also shared the message he received from Imran when Salman Butt was having trouble with his hamstring during the game.  “He had kind of taken over captaincy. Salman Butt was batting with me. He suffered cramps. So a teammate came running in with a message. I thought I’m the captain who is sending me messages.

“He told me that Imran Bhai has said Salman Butt is having trouble with his hamstring, tell him to retire hurt, take treatment, and then go back onto the field. I sent Salman back. He came back after treatment and scored a hundred,” the former batsman added.

Imran Khan, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, has always been an active support system of the Pakistan players. The legendary player led the Asian nation to a World Cup triumph in 1992. The former player is always vocal in giving better cricketing tips for the players of the team. He was considered instrumental in the appointment of Misbah-ul-Haq as the chief selector and head coach of the current Pakistan team.