It is hardly a secret that ImadWasim’s return to Pakistan’s T20I side has nothing to do with any long-term goal, and everything to do with one singular tournament. The 35-year-old allrounder has struggled with fitness issues in the past, and recognises his healthiest days are behind him; he even quit international cricket last year. But with a T20 World Cup around the corner, much of it in the West Indies, where he has enjoyed so much success at the Caribbean Premier League, he couldn’t help be tempted.
“I came back for one reason: not just for the sake of playing,” he says in a media interaction. “Amir and I returned for one reason – to have one last go and win the World Cup. For the last while, we’ve been playing T20 World Cup semi-finals and finals, which is a very big achievement. But the truth is no one remembers the semi-finalists and finalists. People remember the champions. Our goal is to play those semi-finals and finals, and then to win that tournament. The result is in God’s hands, but the players’ mentality is to go and win the tournament.”
Imad is speaking at the Gaddafi Stadium a few moments after the end of a training session held as part of a three-day camp before Pakistan fly out to Ireland and England for preparatory T20I series ahead of the World Cup.
It’s a blistering hot day; Lahore’s summer heat was delayed by a few weeks this year, but now the sun blazes down, as if to make up for lost time. These aren’t exactly conditions Pakistan can expect in Dublin, but as a test of fitness, Imad, and the rest of the side, are being put through their paces.
And Imad hasn’t put himself through this because it’s a lifestyle he wants for these twilight years of his career, but because he feels one final tilt at glory beckons. He wouldn’t officially confirm the World Cup as his last international tournament, but it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to work out what he’s saying.
“I returned not for my own benefit, but to represent my country in the best possible way and finish on a high note,” he says. “And to try and please this nation of 250 million so we can celebrate together. This is our mission and our goal. Whether we achieve it or not who can say? It does not matter to me whether my contribution is small or big as long as we win the trophy. It’s easier said than done, but I think if we play united and to our potential, we won’t lose to anybody. That is my faith.”
Imad’s return was contentious within Pakistan, stirring a debate around rewarding players who quit with a World Cup spot, but by now, has learned to shut out outside noise. Which is probably just as well for a player who’s perhaps the Pakistani equivalent of Vegemite in human form. He provokes especially strong feelings amongst both his supporters and detractors and while saying he “respects everyone’s opinion”, doesn’t feel like he needs to engage with it.
“I don’t feel outside pressure, just the stress of the match,” Imad says. “I only feel pressure centredaround my performance, and nothing else. If you start thinking about outside pressure as well, you can’t perform effectively. I don’t say this arrogantly, but with confidence, that what happens and is said outside doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I only worry about what my team needs of me, and whether or not I am delivering it.”
This according to him, even extends to the biggest of occasions, with Imad calling the hype around any India-Pakistan clash “huge”, but tries not to think about it at all.
Because ultimately, in that short conversation with Imad, what becomes very obvious very quickly is the one goal that appears to consume his every thought at the moment. “I am back for the World Cup, to be honest with you. I am thinking of nothing else, not even my body. If we win the World Cup, what better way to finish would there be?”
