The year was 1992. It was the semifinal of the World Cup, and Pakistan needed 153 from 15 overs to win, when an inexperienced 22 year old appeared at the crease. All hope was lost. But then this young talent produced a magnificent innings and made 60 off just 37 balls to shoot Pakistan to victory and into the finals.

This man, now legend, was none other than our own Inzi; A batsman like no other for Pakistan, and maybe even the world.

This match winning ability was displayed over and over again by this amazing batsman in ODIs and more so in test matches.

This is why Wisden has declared Inzimam ul Haq as:

  • The highest impact batsman in the world in the new millennium till date.
  • The highest impact batsman from Asia in Test cricket history.

Studying conventional batting averages of batsmen in matches won, Inzi is right up there after the great Bradman. Yes, Inzamam sits comfortably at number two with an average of 78 in 49 matches won. Below are some more numbers to show how important he was to Pakistani Cricket:

 

Number Name Matches Batting Impact SDs Runs Tally Impact Pressure Impact Failure Rate (in %)
1 Inzamam-ul-Haq 118 2.62 7 1.78 0.29 42
2 Saeed Anwar 54 2.55 2 1.84 0.18 43
3 Javed Miandad 123 2.44 5 1.54 0.25 43
4 Younis Khan 88 2.31 3 1.62 0.28 42
5 Mohammad Yousuf 89 2.06 1 1.63 0.26 38

*SD=Series defining

The Inzi Impact

Before I move on, I would like to explain what series defining means…

“The series-defining performance is the true legacy of a player in this system (this is a high impact performance in a match that enables the player’s team to win or draw level the series or – less often – change the momentum in a in a series; it is also awarded to performances in other series where a player dominates more emphatically in 2 matches or more against a strong team.)”

So we know he is the highest impact batsmen from Asia EVER, but what about series defining, was he?

Oh yes he was! He was so “series defining” that he has the highest number of series defining performances in test match history ever, alongside Rahul Dravid. Both have seven each.

But if you look at the stats closely, you will notice that Inzi achieved this feat in only 120 matches compared to 164 by Rahul Dravid. And if you look more closely, you will note that Inzi has one SD as a captain & batsman making him “the biggest series-winning batsman in Test history”.

Inzi has dominated Pakistani and world cricket in so many ways, in some cases like no other, but it is sad to see that sometimes he is not given the respect and credit that he deserves, especially in Pakistan.

Inziman Bhai… We are proud of you! You are great!