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Nepotism tag shortened my career: Iqbal

The right-handed batsman also sympathized with Pakistan opener Imamul Haq

Nepotism tag shortened my career: Iqbal PHOTO: AFP

Pakistan Test batsman Faisal Iqbal believes his career was cut-short because of being wrongly targeted for nepotism.

While talking in an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Iqbal said he was unnecessarily targeted by people because of his relation with former Pakistan captain and batting great Javed Miandad.

“People always targeted me because they believed I got into the side because of my uncle Javed Miandad,” said Iqbal. “The same people now also accuse me of using my uncle to get coaching roles with various franchises in different leagues.”

The right-handed batsman sympathized with Pakistan opener Imamul Haq, who is also often accused of being in the side because of his uncle Inzamamul Haq, who is the nephew of the chief selector.

“Imam is going through similar ordeal, as people look for opportunities to talk negatively about him,” he said. “Players should always be judged on their performance rather than who they are related to.”

Middle-order batsman also believes that mindset of people needs to change, regarding players from cricketing families.

“People need to realize that like many others, we also want to represent Pakistan on the national level. The fact that we have someone in the family that has played the game further motivates us to follow the sport,” he said.

The 37-year-old also emphasised that his poor record in Test cricket was due to playing as a replacement player for the most part of his career.

“I used to play one match as a replacement player, after which I used to be on the bench for the next five matches. Even then I played some important knocks whenever I got an opportunity,” he said.

Talking about his retirement plans, the Karachi-born said he wants to play cricket for a few more years before transitioning into a full-time coaching role.

“I am 37 years old right now, so I want to continue playing cricket for some more time,” he said. “We have examples of other cricketers that are also continuing their cricket while opting for coaching roles in various leagues around the world.”