After scoring a 93 against South Africa in his comeback Test match for Pakistan in almost two years, Imam ul Haq found himself answering a question from the local press about discipline and attitude issues.
“I have worked a lot on my batting and shots development but honestly I have not worked on improving discipline like you asked because I have never had such a problem nor has anyone spoken to me about any attitude issues with me,” Imam told reporters on Sunday after the opener missed out on a century by just seven runs. Imam’s 93 did prop up Pakistan’s total to 313-5 against world champions South Africa in the first Test on Sunday.
Imam combined well with Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood—who ended up scoring 76—to pile on 161 runs for the second wicket on the first day of the first Test at Lahore. The aggressive partnership between Imam and Masood was Pakistan’s joint-best partnership for the second wicket against South Africa, equaling Kamran Akmal and Younis Khan’s stand of 161 at the same ground in 2007.
Pakistan star Babar Azam, who was not a part of the recent Asia Cup T20 tournament where the side lost to India in the final, struggled in the whites for Pakistan, managing just 23 runs. The other star player who was also left out of the Asia Cup side, Mohammad Rizwan, was unbeaten on 62 while Pakistan’s T20 captain Salman Ali Agha remained not out on 52 at stumps on Day 1 at Lahore. Both batters dominated the spinners with their strong sweep shots in a dominating final session for Pakistan, noted the Associated Press.
The report from AP also noted: Rizwan had two narrow escapes before completing his half-century when captain Aiden Markram couldn’t snap a low catch in the slip and then the batter successfully overturned an lbw decision through referral.
(With inputs from AP)
