Picture Credit: Twitter
Imam-ul-Haq, one of the best batters of Pakistan cricket team, talked about how the fear of “Parchi” chants have kept his parents from watching him play in the stadium during a podcast show. The 27-year-old was accused of nepotism when he was selected to represent Pakistan in ODIs for the first time in 2017, during the reign of Inzamam-ul-Haq, his uncle, as the chief selector.
But, amidst all the criticism on and off the field, Imam-ul-Haq has managed to put together a great run as an individual and team player in Pakistan colours. In the Test format, he has scored 1474 runs in 22 matches at an average of 38.78 with three centuries, while the ODI format has been a massive success story for him, putting together 2719 runs in just 59 matches at an average of 51.30 with nine centuries.
During his podcast interview with Daniyal Sheikh, the left-handed opening batter went on to state how the “Parchi” chants have unfortunately become the part and parcel of his life, irrespective of his performances for the country. These chants ensured that he never took the risk of letting his parents come to the stadium to see him play live and in person.
He was quoted as saying about his parents vis-a-vis “Parchi” chants, as per Cricket Pakistan website, “When I used to go out to dinner with my family, they would come up and call me parchi in front of my parents. I would be sitting at Nando’s with my family, and there would be young students quipping ‘look, the parchi is sitting there’. That was when I would feel the worst.”
Watch Imam-ul-Haq talk about his ordeal here:
“My parents want to watch me play, but they have not seen me play at a venue even once. Even I don’t want them to. I don’t want my mother hear someone utter parchi when I am fielding on the boundary. All this is normal to me. Whenever I am dismissed cheaply, they will not look at what I have achieved in my past but simply utter parchi. I do not want my family to be exposed to that,” he added.
Imam-ul-Haq also shared details about how his sister has attended a match in stadium involving him last year, while pointing out his anguish at not having the parents attend matches of him in stadium. He said, “The first time my sister watched me play was in 2022, when both West Indies (ODIs) and England (a Test match) played in Multan. By then I was a senior member of the side. The fact that my family could not attend the matches was a mental torture for me.”
