Imam-ul-Haq’s crucial partnership of 177 with captain Babar Azam led Pakistan to a three-wicket win over Proteas in the first ODI. Imam’s innings of 70 off 80 balls led the foundation for the Pakistan team after his fellow opener, Fakhar Zaman, fell cheaply for 8.
According to the team management, Imam’s role is to anchor and stabilize the innings, a role that he fulfills exceptionally, but according to the demands of modern cricket, question marks have been raised on the slow strike rate of the left-handed opener.
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Imam does not fully utilize the first powerplay in ODIs, since 2018, Imam has the lowest strike rate of 66.47 in powerplay in world cricket, leaving a lot of ground to be covered by the other batsmen in the remaining overs. Bangladesh opener, Tamim Iqbal, and young West Indian batsman, Shai Hope, have similar statistics as well.
| Player | Strike-rate in Powerplay since 2018 |
| Imam-ul-Haq | 66.47 |
| Tamim Iqbal | 66.84 |
| Shai Hope | 67.26 |
*minimum 500 runs
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Imam’s initial inclusion in the national squad in 2017 caused an uproar in the Pakistan cricketing fraternity as people claimed that he only made his way into the squad because the then chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq, was his uncle, but Imam has managed to somewhat silence his critics with his exceptional batting performances. Ever since his debut, he has been one of Pakistan’s most successful batsmen, scoring 1,904 runs at an average of 52.88, including 7 centuries, but his strike rate of 80.67 is low compared to the other opening batsmen in world cricket.
Imam has been a great find for Pakistan cricket and if he continues to play this way, he will be one of the most successful openers in Pakistan cricket history, he already has scored 7 ODI centuries, the eleventh most in the country’s history, and with time on his side he can go on to score many more.
