June 09, 2017
All-rounder Imad Wasim has been making headlines for all the right reasons following Pakistan’s stunning win against South Africa. His wicket of Hashim Amla set the stage for the impending collapse. But that’s not all; he also became the first man to give Protean skipper AB de Villiers his first golden duck of the career.
De Villiers, the world’s number one ODI batsman, had known only six ducks in his 211 innings – none of them golden. But little did he know ahead of Wednesday’s fateful innings that a left-arm spinner whom he had never faced in his life would give him that unwanted record.
“Oh, it happens in cricket,” Imad Wasim laughed it off in an interview to the ICC. “Sometimes you get hit, sometimes the other guy gets out. It’s just cricket. You should not be carried away or feel too low by this. He hit a shot and got out, so I think I’m really lucky.”
“He is such a big player. I see it from the team’s point of view. If AB de Villiers gets out early, and you know what he can do if he stays for a long time, so we were just very happy that he got out. It didn’t matter that he got out on zero or one,” said Imad.
The 28-year-old said Pakistan team is a different unit when the players play with the intensity observed in the match against South Africa.
“I’ve said this before also, we can do anything on any day,” Imad said. “All we need to change is to put up this sort of performance every time. Whether we win or lose is separate. If we had played with such intensity against India, we could have won or lost, but you can see the difference. The way the boys bowled and fielded, it was fantastic to see our lads play like that. We are a different unit if we play with this intensity, if we don’t relax or don’t become lazy.”
The all-rounder remarked that the win has given Pakistan renewed hopes of making it to the semifinals and that the team would bring on its best against Sri Lanka on Monday.
“When you win, the morale that is there is different. If we think too much about having beaten South Africa we might be flat again, but we are aware that it’s a do or die match for us. We’ll treat it like a knockout match and not worry about the result. Hopefully, Pakistan and the world will get to see a great performance.”
Pakistan’s next match in Cardiff is all the more special for Imad, as the city is just 40 miles away from Swansea, his birthplace.
“Yes the next match is in Cardiff, so there is that,” he said. “Last year when I played against England, the crowd was supporting me a lot. I’m very thankful to them and to the Pakistan fans who give me so much love. Today it felt like we were playing in a home ground. It was fantastic, it is great fun when our crowd turns up like this.”
