Another of Pakistan’s prodigiously gifted
players, but the suspicion was that Imran Nazir offers
more genuine promise than most. An opener who is particularly
strong off the back foot, he loves forcing through the
covers. An aggressive approach has had him labelled
as a one-day player, but Imran didn’t fare badly in
his first few Tests. Eventually, however, his technique
and lack of footwork was found out rather cruelly by
Glenn McGrath and Co in two Tests against Australia.
Imran was then upstaged by the likes of Mohammad Hafeez,
Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar, but a series
of consistent domestic performances saw him recalled
to the national squad against South Africa in 2006-07.
A typically explosive 39-ball 57 saw him get selected
for the 2007 World Cup squad though three failures in
that series took the gloss off a touch. He is one of
the best fielders in Pakistan, though, and is supposed
to be the first Pakistani to cartwheel (while intercepting
a square cut). |