Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has backed his decision to select his nephew Imam for the upcoming limited overs series against Sri Lanka.
The 47-year old had come under a lot of criticism since the selection, but the former skipper has answered the critics by saying Imam was selected only by form. He insisted that there was no favouritism for his nephew, but his selection was solely due to Imam’s consistent performances at domestic level.
“If you say that he is my nephew, then the selection was tough. But if you see the performance which he has given, (they’re) good. Our plan was to continue with the Champions trophy squad, but unfortunately Azhar Ali has a knee problem. So we needed one opener, and in my opinion (Imam’s) was the best performance amongst the openers,” quoted Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Inzamam has also revealed that both the coach and the captain were even interested in trying out the youngster in the team. Imam is in fine form for the U-23 side and could break into the senior team if he manages to replicate similar performances this month.
“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,” quoted the Chief Selector.
The chief selector has also insisted that out of favour batsman Umar Akmal could still make it back to the national team. The talented player was dropped from the squad due to his poor fitness, levels ahead of Champions Trophy and his rift with head coach Michael Arthur has further dampened his chances to make a comeback.
“I have not spoken to him after the ban, but I tried to make him understand a few things previously. We can’t shut the door on any player. His issue is fitness and now another issue is discipline. He needs to improve on these issues and then he will be considered,” conceded Inzamam.