Imad Wasim’s reported rift with everyone’s favourite Babar Azam somehow diminished his enthusiasm among Pakistani cricket fans. However, the 35-year-old just showed some glimpses of his potential in the playoffs of the ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 9).
The crowd’s disrespecting chants and social media warriors’ hostile speech against the all-rounder had everything to make one’s morale down. Nevertheless, Imad had an answer for all. For his critics, he had prepared a wonderful surprise or would be fair to call surprises, which were unveiled during the PSL 2024 playoffs.
In fact, Imad was the force to propel Islamabad United to Eliminator 2 and subsequently to the final showdown. In the first Eliminator against the Quetta Gladiators, his fiery spell of 3/12 in four overs helped restrict the opponents to 135 in pursuit of a 175-run target.
Likewise, he mimicked his match-winning performances in the second Eliminator against Peshawar Zalmi. This time, he showed his prowess with the bat. A quick 59* off 40 balls assisted the red-hot squad to chase the 186-run target. In particular, four of the last ball of the 19th over to Luke Wood made the Karachi crowd noiseless.
Entering the PSL 2024 final with grace, Imad had a bigger surprise this time. While the entire United squad was vengeful, Imad also had to give the answers to all the disrespect.
In the much-awaited thriller that took place on March 18, Imad closed up his tournament’s journey as one of the three players to bag five or more wickets in a single match. He shook up Sultans’ batting order, restricting them to 159, which was successfully chased by the United’s batters on the very last ball.
On the contrary, Imad had different performances in the round robin stage. Before playoffs, the all-rounder could just manage four wickets of his nine games, and little to no contributions from the bat. Only a valiant 30* vs Sultans during Sherus’ last outing on the league stage stood out. It must be noted that despite not managing frequent wickets, his economy during the league stage stayed under seven.
As PSL 2024 entered its decision stages, the cricket world saw a different Imad Wasim, rising as a match-winner. It won’t be wrong to term him as a sole match-winner for United in three consecutive games. It was evident as he bagged the Player of the match awards in all of them.
(This is a featured copy based on the writer’s personal opinion. Hence, should not be considered biased from the website)
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