ICC World Cup 2023: People Are Scared Of Pakistan's ODI Team - Imam-ul-Haq's Sensational Claim

The 27-year-old Pakistan National Cricket Team opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq has made a sensational claim ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, saying that the opposition teams are scared of their ODI team.

The Men In Green under the leadership of Babar Azam are set to feature in two major 50-over cricketing events in the next few months. First, they will participate in the Asia Cup, which will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and then they will travel to India for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Ahead of the tournaments, Imam-ul-Haq said that he is currently not thinking too much about the World Cup as he likes to live in the present. He further claimed that Pakistan’s ODI team is outstanding and opposition teams are definitely scared of them.

“I try to live in the present. I’m not thinking about that (World Cup) right now. Yes, in the back of my mind, I’m preparing for the World Cup. I know that people are well and truly scared of our one-day team, because we have achieved some great wins. We have a pattern that we follow. I believe our one-day team is particularly good,” Imam told YouTuber Daniyal Sheikh in a podcast.

Our strength is our fast bowling and batting – Imam-ul-Haq

Imam-ul-Haq believes that the main strength of Team Pakistan lies in their fast-bowling unit and their batting unit. He highlighted that Pakistan’s top order has names like Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman while their lethal fast-bowling unit consists of the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf.

“Our strength is our fast bowling and batting. I’ve played 60 games, Fakhar played 70, Babar played 100-odd games. Naseem, Shaheen, Haris, and Wasim Jr are there. Then we have Shadab and Nawaz, and Osama Mir has also come. Iftikhar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha are there, Rizzi (Rizwan) is there.

” I’m not saying that this is a team good because I’m a part of it. I would say this is a balanced team even if I wasn’t playing for them. But I believe there cannot be a better team than this. The players are confident, they know their roles. That’s why I’m emphasizing that the ODI team is better than the T20I team,” Imam further stressed.

Pakistan recently defeated Afghanistan by 142 runs in the first ODI of the three-match series. Pakistan were bowled out for 201 in the match with Imam-ul-Haq being the top-scorer with 61 runs in his bag.

While defending the score Pakistan pacers destroyed Afghanistan. Haris Rauf ran through the batting line-up and bagged a 5-wicket haul to bundle out the opposition for 59. Shaheen Afridi got two wickets while Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan picked one each.