Inzamam-ul-Haq Quotes

Even after defeating India, I still have the highest respect for them as opponents.

No one can deny there is a lot of pressure when Pakistan and India play, especially with the expectations of the fans at home.

T20 is an unpredictable format, so you cannot rule out any team‘s chances.

Any team can’t give top performance all year round.

Playing Test cricket for one’s country is the ultimate, but people are enjoying Twenty20 format because everything will be over within three hours.

When you have confidence, the atmosphere in the dressing room also improves.

I’m ready to accept the pressures of captaincy.

There is always great significance playing against India, and it is always special and a treat for people in both countries.

As my parents are from India, I am told a lot of positive things about the country, the culture and traditions of Muslims in India. I don’t remember anything nasty told to me by my parents.

I have had a fulfilling career for Pakistan, although our poor performance in the 2007 World Cup would remain the lowest point of my career.

Whoever you name as captain, it’s a hard choice.

I have never forced anyone to offer prayers in the team or to keep a beard.

I am a great admirer of Yuvraj and Kaif. They have generally been able to pick up the scoring when they come to bat at numbers six and seven. They also are livewires in the field.

Even a good batsman requires a year or so in test cricket to settle down and play long innings.

I don’t mind positive criticism, but when it is negative and personal, it is quite hard.

As chief selector, I did my best to pick new talent and give them proper opportunities, as they are the future of Pakistan cricket.

It is not my domain to speak on pitches, but they play an important role in producing quality players in every format.

I want to develop an atmosphere where the selectors, captain, and coach are on the same page because, unless this happens, there will be no turnaround in our cricket.

It is a do-or-die battle every time we play India.

Sometimes we need to make changes in the XI as per the conditions, and as per the player‘s form.

If someone says to me, ‘You are a cheat, and Pakistan is doing wrong things,’ my first priority is to my country.

How well a team executes its plans is important, but I think keeping nerves under pressure is far more important in the knockout stage.

The victory in the 1992 World Cup changed Pakistan cricket. A number of cricketers from that side turned out to be role models and inspiration for the younger generation.

Regardless of where we play, we should play India on regular basis.

Tests with India always produce some great finishes.

In the one-dayers, it boils down to who performs better on the day of the match.

It’s up to the individual to decide when he wants to quit.

The pressure of an India-Pakistan game is immense.

We must live in peace. It’s necessary.

I think there is no better way for our players to improve and learn to perform under pressure than playing regularly with India.

Every team goes through a lean patch.

It is imperative that Afghanistan cricket does well. You cannot imagine how passionate Afghanistan’s fans are and how they live and die by every result.

As more we play cricket, the more players will learn from it.

Trust yourself in tight situations, but you need to have a plan. You might fail once, twice, but you will get better at it.

All successful captains in the world have had long-term roles to make a difference.

Off the field, both India and Pakistan enjoy a healthy relationship, and that’s the way it should be – friends off the field and fierce competitors on it.

I’ve never linked team selection to offering prayers, and reports suggesting otherwise are all wrong.

When the key players in your team perform well, the team does well, too.

Besides being a sportsman, I am also a human being.

I have no problems playing under anyone.

I wanted to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. But I could not.

What I intend to do is to launch a batting academy. I have been a batsman throughout my life, and I can’t open a bowling academy after all!

Throughout my career, we beat India in many matches, but for some reason, we never managed to get the better of them in World Cup matches, and it remains a disappointment for me.

If you don’t have bounce on the pitch, even a spinner cannot come handy.

It’s important what you can do for your team. Even if you score 30-40, if it contributes to team’s victory, then it is always memorable.

If people remember me as one who contributed to Pakistan’s cricket, I will feel good. If people say good things, it makes me feel happy.

I control my anger.

I won‘t say I have won many matches, but I used to take care to just do my role.

I remember, before the 2003 World Cup, I worked extremely hard on my fitness. A great deal of training and dietary discipline. I believe I lost 19 kg. And 19 is the number of runs I scored in the entire tournament.

I don’t have a magic wand, and there is a lot we need to do right in Pakistan cricket to build a strong team.

I have told the PCB that I want total independence to work with a free mind and pick the best players, and they have assured me it will be done.

Frankly speaking, the pleasure and satisfaction you get after performing against India you don’t get against any team, and if you ask the Indian players, they would have similar sentiments.

I coached Afghanistan for seven months. Out of those, I spent five and a half away from home.

I didn’t play much under Imranbhai, but he was special.

If someone drops a catch, and I get angry, will that catch come back to us? It won’t. Therefore, it is better to be cool, because that helps in better performance.

I am happy and satisfied at the end of my career, but not much. Yes, I would have loved to leave the stage in a better way.

I think most people thought that because I am quite reserved and private, I wouldn’t make a good captain.

I can’t leave cricket. It is my passion.

In the past, when we toured countries like Australia or South Africa, we struggled, but we also got to learn a lot, and we learnt to cope with pressure.

It is not easy when people laugh at you.

Critics tend to praise as well as crucify you.

Imran never lost faith in us as players, individually and as a team, and that gave us the confidence to win. He was a leader par excellence, and Pakistan have seen none like him.

World Cup 2003 was the worst phase in my career, but that is now behind me, and I am doing all-out efforts to get my place in the team back and further my career.

It’s not as if I never used to get under pressure. That is nonsense. It’s just that my looks gave an appearance, and people didn’t think I was tense.

The thing that forced me to think about my retirement was that I had played my cricket with honour and distinction, and I did not want to put myself in a position where I was considered a liability or unwanted by the selectors.

We have to keep our feet on ground, stay humble, and collect all praise, well-wishes, and prayers because these will help us in future.