Imam-ul-Haq breaks silence on his "protein statement" during ODI World Cup 2023

Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq has finally opened up on his famous statement that he gave during the ODI World Cup 2023. During the last tournament last year in India, Imam was asked by a journalist why Pakistan had been unable to hit a six in the first ten overs.

The left-hander replied by saying that he needs to have more protein in his diet rather than carbs to hit sixes. “Maybe we want to eat more proteins and not that much carbs," Imam had responded to the journalist at that time.

After his statement, he was brutally trolled on social media by his country's fans. Many of them questioned his mindset and sense of humor and even questioned his place in the team.

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Imam-ul-Haq breaks the silence on his "protein statement"

Recently, Imam-ul-Haq was in a local Pakistani TV show and finally broke his silence on the "protein statement" that he gave during the ODI World Cup 2023. He claimed that his statement was just a joke that was taken in the wrong context by the people on social media which even led to memes.

"It (the protein statement) was just a joke. He was a Pakistani journalist. The journalist said that we had not hit a six in the (first) ten overs," Imam said during the show.

My Protien statement was joke: Imam UL Haq pic.twitter.com/nvWhsTxz6H

— ٰImran Siddique (@imransiddique89) October 5, 2024

The left-handed opener also spoke about the mindset of players and said that it does not matter how he finishes the game but winning the match for his country is most important for him.

"Babar (Azam) has been playing T20s for a long time. Everyone has a mindset. My aim is to win matches for Pakistan. It does not matter whether you take six singles to win a match in the last over or just hit a six. In the end, the result matters," Imam said.

"Sixes are not hit just by building the muscles" - Imam-ul-Haq

The 28-year-old also revealed that sixes are not hit just by building muscles but it requires proper timing to hit the ball a long way. He also admitted that the level of Pakistani cricket needs to go up if they want to compete with the world.

"Sixes are not hit just by building the muscles. Sixes are hit through timing. Our level needs to go up with the world-level athletes if we want to compete. There is a time when you want some improvement after having played for nearly seven years.

"Sometimes, you guys think that we are not trying to improve but that's not right. It's just about the execution," Imam mentioned.

Imam-ul-Haq dropped for Tests against Bangladesh

Imam-ul-Haq was on Pakistan's Test side when the team toured Australia last year. But he was dropped from the Bangladesh series recently in favor of another left-handed opener Saim Ayub.

Imam has been a regular in Pakistan's ODI team but hasn't been able to maintain his place in the longest format of the game. His last ODI was way back in the ODI World Cup 2023 against South Africa in Chennai.

He had a poor tournament where he scored 162 runs in 6 matches at an average of 27 and a strike rate of 90. It remains to be seen whether he finds a place for himself in Pakistan's upcoming ODI series in Australia.