It is not my fault that I am Inzamam's nephew: Imam-ul-Haq

Pakistan’s latest debutant Imam-ul-Haq is largely known as the nephew of legendary cricket Inzamam-ul-Haq. With such a big name being associated with him, clearly, it isn’t a cakewalk to justify the selection, especially when his uncle is the chief selector of Pakistan. But the 21-year strong built cricketer proved a point with his bat in the very first international match of his career.

The youngster hit two sixes and five fours, as he reached his maiden ODI ton with a few close shaves. The southpaw is just the second Pakistan cricketer and 13th overall to have hit a hundred on ODI debut. Imam almost went back to the pavilion gutted on 89, after finding an edge to the keeper. But with repeated replays, it was believed that the ball had touched the ground and therefore the umpires called him back.

Prolific-run in domestic cricket

The youngster made it to the squad as a replacement for injured Azhar Ali. Imam has scored plenty of runs in U-19 cricket and followed it up in U-23. He was also impressive in Pakistan’s domestic circuit.”Look, you have to notice the talent and what he can do. His performance was good in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Then he scored two hundreds for the Under-23 team in the triangular tournament in Bangladesh. He scored a hundred in Sialkot. Even Mickey (Arthur) and Sarfraz (Ahmed) gave (their) opinions. We all consult each other,” Inzamam had said, defending the selection of his nephew.

“Very proud about it,” said the young gun on Wednesday (October 19). “Honestly, I didn’t know about that record. Once I had gone back to the dressing room Sarfraz [Ahmed] told me. Great feeling to score a hundred on debut. It’s a proud moment for me, very happy to do it for Pakistan,” Imam said post the victory in the 3rd ODI.

“It’s not my fault that I am his nephew. I can’t help that. I am not answerable to that. The best I can do is to answer with my bat. I will have failures and every player has that failure,” added Imam.