{ "id": "62235", "author": "13", "cnmid": "0", "title": "Would have meals alone, cry in the shower: Imam-ul-Haq\u00a0on nepotism accusations", "lang": "en", "series": "1", "cup_year": "2020", "article_type": "General", "excerpt": "Lahore, July 25:\u00a0\u00a0Pakistan batsman Imam-ul-Haq spoke about the mental pressures that came with being accused of nepotism when he broke into the national team. Imam, who is the nephew of legendary fo", "subtype": "", "editor1": "

Lahore, July 25: <\/strong> Pakistan batsman Imam-ul-Haq spoke about the mental pressures that came with being accused of nepotism when he broke into the national team. Imam, who is the nephew of legendary former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, made his ODI debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka on October 2017.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

His case was not helped by the fact that Inzamam was also the chief selector for Pakistan at the time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

"When all of this started happening, I would have my meals all alone. It was my first tour and you know how it can get on the first tour. And whenever I would open my phone, there were people tagging me on social media posts or sending me stuff. I was very disheartened and couldn't understand anything," Imam told former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta on his ESPNCrincinfo chat show Cricketbaazi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

"I stopped talking to my family because I didn't want to put them under any pressure that I'm facing problems. I switched off and handed both my mobile phones to my manager, and said, ‘I can't take this, please take them off me.'<\/p>\r\n\r\n

"I remember crying in the shower for hours that I haven't even played yet. It's very easy for young players to get surrounded by self-doubt. The only thing running constantly in my mind was that I haven't even played [for the national team] yet, what if I play and don't perform well? Then my career will be over. I wouldn't step a foot out of my room, fearing people might trouble me outside, because there is a large Pakistan community in Dubai."<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Imam played the third match of the series. "We were living in Dubai, and from there we had to travel to Abu Dhabi on the match-day, which is a two-hour drive. So we had to leave around 11am-12pm for the match and I got his (Arthur's) message at around 9.30am, which I still remember, ‘Immy, it's your time, be ready and good luck,'" said Imam.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

"After that, I don't remember anything. My mind was completely blank. I was hoping he hadn't messaged me. He shouldn't have. Because my confidence had hit the rock-bottom and I was feeling so low that I felt I won't be able to perform in the match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

"I was focussing less on the match and more on what would happen after. What if I couldn't perform? My career will get badly affected and everyone will say they were right to criticise me. Because the media was only discussing my inclusion in the side."<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Imam went on to score a century in that match, thus becoming the second Pakistani batsman to score a ton on debut.
\r\n <\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Imam-Ul-Haq1.jpg", "alt_img": "Imam-ul-Haq", "alt_title": "Imam-ul-Haq", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Would have meals alone, cry in the shower: Imam-ul-Haq\u00a0on nepotism accusations On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Lahore, July 25:\u00a0\u00a0Pakistan batsman Imam-ul-Haq spoke about the mental pressures that came with being accused of nepotism when he broke into the national team. Imam, who is the nephew of legendary fo", "seo_keywords": "Imam-ul-Haq", "tag": "", "tagging": "Imam-ul-Haq,", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "would-have-meals-alone-cry-in-the-shower-imam-ul-haqon-nepotism-accusations", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "1115", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "1", "created": "2020-07-25 18:32:32", "updated": "2020-07-25 18:32:32", "img_from": "IANS", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": "", "livescore_text": "", "livescore_link": "", "btn_text": "", "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2020-07-25 18:32:32", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2020-07-25 18:32:32", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "england_cricket": "0", "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/would-have-meals-alone-cry-in-the-shower-imam-ul-haqon-nepotism-accusations-62235" }