Srinagar: Not going with the easy pick by naming his teammates, Former India opener Virender Sehwag has named Pakistan legend Inzamam Ul Haq as the best ever middle-order batsman of Asia.
In the recent episode of “Breakfast with Champions” hosted by Gaurav Kapoor, Sehwag explained how the former Pakistan skipper was fearless in his batting even in the early 2000s..
Sehwag said that we shouldn’t compare legend Sachin Tendulkar with anyone as the batting maestro is in the league of his own, and hence named Inzamam as the best among the “rest” and he was one of the few batters in Asia who were not bothered by rising required run rates.
“Inzi Bhai Bahut Sweet Hai. Sab Log Baat Karte Hai Sachin Tendulkar Ki Lekin Inzamam-ul-Haq Asia Ka Middle-order Ka Sabse Bada Batsman Main Maanta Hoon. Kyunki Tendulkar toh vo batsman ki league se upar he chale gaye hai, unko toh count he nahi karte hum. Jitne Bhi Aur Desho Ke Ballebaaz Aate Hai Middle-order Ke, Unmein Unse Better Ballebaaz Maine Nahi Dekha. Us Zamane Mein, 2003-04 Mein Vo 8 Run Ki Average Baatein Karte The Ki Chinta Mat Kar Aaram Se Bana Lunga. 10 Over Mein 80 Run Koi Aur Team Aur Player Panic Kar Jate He Par Vo Kehte The Ki Bann Jayenge Chinta Mat Karo,” Sehwag said in the video interview.
(Inzi bhai was very, very sweet. Everyone talks about Sachin Tendulkar, but I believe that Inzamam-ul-Haq is the biggest middle-order batsman of Asia. It is because Tendulkar is beyond any league of batsmen. We don’t count him among the batsmen. He’s not even counted among humans. The ones in between—whether the batter is from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or Bangladesh—among them, I have not seen anyone better than him. At that time, in 2003 and 2004, at 8 runs per over, he used to say, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll score them easily.’ I mean, with 80 runs in 10 overs, any other team would panic. Any other player would panic. He’d just say, ‘We’ll do it. Don’t worry),” he said.
Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam is considered one of the best batters Pakistan has ever produced with 8830 runs in 120 Test matches and 11,739 runs in 378 One-Day Internationals.