The memoirs of Imran Khan: cricket’s invincible khan (Part 2)
In the words of Richard Hadlee, “Khan was more consistent than the rest of us”. Imran burst on the scene when he learned how to move the ball, a terrific batsman and also a great bowler. “Well I don’t know whether I gave advice to Imran Khan or whether he
gave advice to me,” was what Mike http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 was pushing himself, he was a supreme player amongst all those
cricketers. At a time while Ian Botham steadily declined in his career, Imran Khan astonishingly improved during the last 10 years of his game, most importantly while he was serving as the captain of the Pakistan side.
The added responsibility was something that brought out the best in Imran for he was a natural leader on the field. “Imran Khan was for me the greatest ever Pakistan Captain and he was the one who could ask or issue instructions and know that they were going
to be obeyed. He was the only one over the years that I know who could do that,” opined Richie Benaud while referring to Khan.
From 1979 to 1982, Imran Khan was perhaps the chief strike bowler for Pakistan and his contributions for his team were vital to their success. Against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in 1982, Khan took 8 for 58 and 6 for 58, the best match statistics in Test match history for
a fast bowler from Pakistan. In England in 1982 however, Khan showed a glimpse of his true leadership qualities when he proved to be a revelation for Pakistan. He captained the side, and the lion of Pakistan was hence born. He led from the front, inspiring
the players around him solely on the basis of his own performance. He was perhaps the one leader who managed to get the entire team to think as a group and play as one simultaneously. He then led Pakistan to their first series win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and England
in their own backyard. In these two series alone, totalling 9 Tests, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Khan took an outstanding 53 wickets. During the 1982-83 series against India, Imran took 40 wickets against an Indian side which was performing exceptionally well.
Despite suffering from a hairline fracture in that series, Imran performed phenomenally well. However it took a toll on his health as he had to leave cricket for a period of two years, due to injury. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292, the greatest left-arm fast bowler in the
history of cricket, believed that had Imran Khan played for those two years, he would have certainly come near the 500 wicket mark in Test cricket.
In 1985/86, Khan’s mother fell sick due to cancer. It was during that time that Khan took his first few tentative steps to mark his comeback in international cricket. However, Imran took his time but was soon considered as the greatest all-rounder of his
time. While playing for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 in the Sheffield Shield, Imran Khan played a vital role in helping his side win the Sheffield Cup. Despite an injury scare, Khan became as influential as he was before his injury. He soon went on to produce a superb
bowling spell against India where he took 6 for 14 in 10 overs in an ODI at Sharjah.
In 1987, Imran Khan was restored as captain of the national side, and for the first time in cricket history, he led Pakistan to its first Test series win against India in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, making 135 not out in the first test; leading Pakistan to victory against a
side with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. The intention was clear, Imran wanted to set the pace for
Pakistan to go on and win the 1987 World Cup to be held in India, having already decided that 1987 would mark the end of his international cricket career.
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