Earlier this week, former India opener Virender Sehwag called Inzamam-ul-Haq – the former Pakistan captain – as the best middle-order batter to come out of Asia. Sehwag said that while Sachin Tendulkar was “above the league,” and can’t be comparable, among the rest, Inzamam comes across as the “most superior batsman” across India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The former Pakistan batter has scored over 11,000 runs in ODIs (11,739), and has an average of nearly 50 (49.33) in the longest format, representing the national team in 120 Tests.
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Now, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt – who has played under Inzamam – spoke in detail about Sehwag’s statement. Agreeing to the former India opener’s remark, Butt said that it always looked Inzamam had a “lot of time” on his hands when he used to take on the bowlers.
“Without doubt, Inzy bhai was one of the best players to have played cricket for Pakistan. He had a lot of time to play a shot. He made facing the bowlers too easy, almost as if he knew where the ball would come. It doesn’t matter who fast the bowler is,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
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“If Inzy bhai had even 50 percent of today’s fitness standards, he would’ve scored 60-70 centuries in international cricket quite easily. His output wasn’t as big as the player he was, and I think even he would agree that he could’ve delivered better performance,” Butt further added.
Inzamam ended his career with 25 centuries in Tests and 10 in ODIs, but scored a mammoth 83 half-centuries in the fifty-over format. A key member of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning squad, Inzamam retired from international cricket in 2007 and has since been involved in various roles in Pakistan cricketing setup. He was the national team’s chief selector between 2016-2019, and is currently the president of Pakistan Super League side Peshawar Zalmi.
