Ex Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq suffers heart attack

FORMER Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on Tuesday (28) underwent an emergency angioplasty at a private hospital in Lahore after complaining of chest-related issues and breathing difficulty.

According to Haq’s family sources, the 51-year-old felt uneasy and complained of having breathing difficulty on Monday (27). He was taken to a private hospital where he underwent several tests and it was said that he might have had a minor heart attack.

Doctors advised the former coach and Pakistan chief selector to undergo angioplasty and the procedure was performed by noted heart surgeon Professor Abbas Kazim.

“Inzamam is now doing much better and will be released soon from hospital. He is okay now,” one family member said.

Haq, one of the best batters Pakistan have produced, played a key role in his country’s only World Cup win in 1992. He played 120 Tests, 378 one-day internationals and one T20 international in a career that spanned between 1992 and 2007. He scored more than 20,000 international runs, including 35 hundreds.

It was during Haq’s tenure as the chief selector of Pakistan that the team won the ICC Champions Trophy final against arch-rivals India in England in 2017. His tenure came to an end after Pakistan’s poor performance in the ICC World Cup in 2019. He had also coached Afghanistan in the 2016 World T20 which was held in India.

Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who was once among Haq’s contemporaries, wished the Pakistani a speedy recovery. “Wishing you a speedy recovery @Inzamam08. You’ve always been calm yet competitive, and a fighter on the field. I hope and pray that you’ll come out stronger from this situation as well. Get well soon,” he tweeted.

In January, former India captain and current chief of the Indian cricket board Sourav Ganguly also suffered a heart attack and underwent a quick angioplasty.