Mohammad Hafeez slams Imad Wasim for his poor performance in PSL 9
Published - 28 Feb 2024, 12:02 PM | Updated - 28 Feb 2024, 01:35 PM
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Former Pakistan captain and team director Mohammad Hafeez was extremely critical about the impact of Islamabad United all-rounder Imad Wasim. Hafeez also questioned his inclusion in the United side which suffered a tough loss at the hands of Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi 2 days ago in match number 13 of PSL 9. With that loss, United have now lost 4 games on the trot and find themselves in the 5th spot with just a single win.
Imad Wasim is among the key and senior players in the Islamabad United squad. He brings in a plethora of experience from his time with the Pakistan national team from 2015-2023. However, Wasim hasn’t been able to do any good for his team as they sit above reigning champions Lahore Qalandars who are yet to register a win in PSL 9.
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The most successful PSL outfits, playing like the most inexperienced sides
The Shaheen Afridi-led side have played 6 and lost 6 and a few more losses can see them go out of contention for the play-offs. Such has been Islamabad United’s season, a team that has won the coveted title twice in PSL history, including the inaugural one. After claiming the 2016 edition, United won the title again in 2018 (season 3) but since then, they have yet to appear in the finals.
Islamabad made it to the play-offs on 4 occasions since 2018 and have bowed out of the competition from that point each time. And this time around, they have easily been the worst team alongside Lahore Qalandars whose title defense has started on a terrible note.
Among the key reasons behind United’s disappointing start has been major inconsistency. Players like Imad Wasim, skipper Shadab Khan, and Faheem Ashraf have been the weakest links in the team. Whereas players like Colin Munro, Agha Salman, Azam Khan, and Naseem Shah among others have been decent.
And that was what Mohammad Hafeez pointed out in his recent chat with a local Pakistani outlet named A Sports. Hafeez first lashed out on Imad Wasim who scored a run and remained wicketless in the loss against Peshawar. The Zalmis had posted a target of 202 on the back of Babar Azam’s 111 off 63 and blisters from Saim Ayyub and Paul Walter.
None of the Islamabad bowlers were able to stop the flow of runs, not even Naseem Shah who conceded 32 runs. Agha Salman was the most economical one with a 6.25 economy rate. As for Imad Wasim, the skipper Shadab Khan took him away from the ball after he conceded 17 runs off his first 6 balls.
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Hafeez claims Imad Wasim should improve his all-round performance
Mohammad Hafeez stated that he is unable to understand what impact is Imad Wasim providing for Islamabad. He questioned Wasim’s all-round performance and claimed he is nowhere near his actual self. The former team director also threw jabs at Shadab Khan’s captaincy, mentioning that his tactical errors are proving to be costly.
“I don’t understand his (Imad Wasim) impact at all. As a bowler, as a batsman, he is nowhere in the PSL. There are higher expectations from Imad. Shadab bowled well, but he shouldn’t have saved his over. Overall, Islamabad is making some very bad tactical errors.” – Hafeez said via A Sports.
