Former Pakistan men’s cricket team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq believed that the Indian batsmen he played against scored runs for themselves and not for the team while the Pakistani cricketers played exactly in the opposite way.
Speaking to Ramiz Raja on his Youtube channel, Inzamam listed some major differences between the cricketers of the two nation and said that even though the Indian batsmen scored more centuries, Pakistani batsmen’s 30-40 runs proved more effective for the team.
“When we played against India, their batting was more powerful than ours on paper. Even (though) our batsmen scored 30 or 40 runs, they were for the team. But for India, even if they scored 100 runs, they played for themselves. So, that was the difference between the two sides,” he added,” Inzamam said.
Inzamam made his debut under the 1992 World Cup-winning captain and current Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and said the way he backed his players even when they were not performing, made him a respected leader.
“Imran (bhai) was not a very technical captain, but he knew how to get the most out of his players. He backed the young players, he backed the players he believed in and this made him a great captain,” said the 50-year-old, who scored more than 20,000 runs for Pakistan in his career.
“He would not drop any player if he failed in one series as he believed in giving the player a long rope and this the biggest reason why everyone in the side respected him so much,” he added.
However, earlier this year, Inzamam had hailed Sachin Tendulkar’s greatness and said he was born to play cricket only and even called the Indian legend “above extraordinary”.
“It still amazes me that at a tender age of 16-17, he made his international debut and did such great things. This is only possible by some extraordinary cricketer, in fact, if there is anything above extraordinary then that is Sachin,” Inzamam had stated on his Youtube channel.
“It’s easier said than done. He was playing against the likes of Waqar (Younis) and Wasim (Akram) on his debut at 16 years of age. The kind of cricket he played against that bowling attack was startling,” he further added.