The Sourav Ganguly-led Indian side had won the hyped and closely contested Test and ODI series in Pakistan in 2004. Hence the pressure was high on Inzamam and his men when Pakistan traveled to India in 2005 for a return series.
Inzamam recalls the first Test match in Mohali and how Pakistan only had 4 wickets in their bank and a slender lead of 53 runs at the start of Day 5. L Balaji was leading the Indian bowling attack and had picked a fifer in the first innings.
Inzamam-ul-Haq recalls innings that turned Pakistan's 2017 Champions Trophy campaign
However, Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq dug in deep and added 186 runs for the seventh wicket and denied India any hope of a victory. Akmal scored 109 off 154 balls while Razzaq was dismissed for 71 as the match ended in a draw.
Praising the duo, Inzamam said on his YouTube channel, “When a junior cricketer performs the seniors feel ‘if they can do it, why can’t we’. This has happened many times in cricket. We were playing in Chandigarh in 2005, where Razzaq and Kamran Akmal put together a partnership to save the Test match."
"Akmal scored a century and Razzaq scored 70 odd. Me, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yusuf were sitting inside the dressing room and we realized if two junior cricketers can fight like this and then why can’t we?,” Inzamam continued.
Inzamam further said that the way these two players changed the fortune of the team in that match, inspired all of them to do much better. “The entire result of the series changed because of those two boys,” said Inzamam.
Pakistan lost the next Test match at Kolkata but came back strongly in Bengaluru to square the series. Pakistan came back from 0-2 down to take the six-match ODI series 4-2.
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