329 Against Kiwis in Lahore: Record was within my reach, says Inzamam

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq believes that he would have powered his way to the world’s highest individual Test score by crossing the 400-run mark on May 3, 2002 if there was a regular batsman with him at the other end on that day.

“It was too hot on that day. New Zealand players were totally exhausted as they were not used to such weather. From their body language I could guess as if they were asking me ‘you may plunder as many runs as you wish but (please) allow us to go’ (off the field),” Inzamam said on his YouTube channel ‘TheMatchWinner’ while recalling the opening fixture of the two-match series against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Inzamam cracked a triple century (329) on the second day of that clash — his highest Test score. Pakistan won by an innings and 324 runs. The win was the fifth biggest in the history of Test cricket.

“We had plenty of time. Runs were also coming quite freely. But the issue was that we didn’t have wickets in hand as the last man had arrived to accompany me. I asked him (the last man), ‘can you face two to three balls in an over if such a situation arises. But he looked at me with a smile as if he was saying, ‘no, you do whatever you want’. I was left with no option but to hit sixes,” Inzamam, one of the finest batsmen the world has seen, said.

“Probably, in the over when I was caught out at the boundary, I had already smashed three sixes. I just needed an hour to cross the 400 mark and set the world record but that opportunity was missed.”

According to Inzamam, that Test was the most memorable match of his life.

“I was also in a comfortable position to break Hanif Mohammad’s record of 337 runs. But breaking a Pakistan cricket great’s record was never my target as it could have been good for me individually but I don’t think it would have been good for the country. “But there was nothing wrong to earn a name in the world by setting a world record,” he said.

Inzamam, however, was quick to add that right for the start of his professional career he had a desire to break legendary Javed Miandad’s records. “That was not because I had some personal issues with Javed Miandad, but because during our era he was a hero of all Pakistani batsmen. He was (Pakistan’s) top scorer, both in Tests and One-Day Internationals at that time. He was a leading centurion as well as the Pakistan batsman with most fifties. So I wanted to emulate his feats.”

The 50-year-old Inzamam scored 8,830 runs in 120 Tests and 11,739 runs in 378 One-Day Internationals.