Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq was run out against India on Sunday (February 23), adding to an unwanted record of such dismissals in ODI cricket.
During Pakistan's second match of the 2025 Champions Trophy, Imam walked out to open the innings in place of the injured Fakhar Zaman, after skipper Mohammad Rizwan had won the toss.
For the first eight overs of the innings, it was Imam's opening partner Babar Azam who did the bulk of the scoring, making his way to 23 off 25 balls before edging a delivery from Hardik Pandya through to wicketkeeper KL Rahul.
Match 5, Pakistan vs India
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Off the second ball of the very next over, Imam, who was on 10 off 25 and struggling to get going, advanced down the wicket and pushed Kuldeep Yadav towards mid on. Perhaps not realising how well he had hit it, the batter took off for a quick single, only for Axar Patel to collect the ball and throw down the stumps at the bowler's end to catch him short of his ground.
Imam-ul-Haq's run out draws comparisons with uncle Inzamam
Soon after his dismissal, broadcast commentators pointed out that this was the sixth time Imam had been run out in ODIs, the third-most of any batter in the world since his debut in the format. The top two are Adil Rashid (8 times) and Dipendra Singh Airee (7 times).
Watch: Hardik Pandya waves 'bye bye' to Babar Azam after nick off for low score
Imam's place on this list prompted comparisons with his uncle, former Pakistan international Inzamam-ul-Haq, whose 40 run out dismissals in ODI cricket are the joint-second most of any player in history, only behind Marvan Atapattu (41).
Ravi Shastri questioned light-heartedly whether a gene for run outs ran in the family, only for co-commentator Sunil Gavaskar to quip, "I don't think there is much running happening there."
What is Imam-ul-Haq's record of run outs in ODI cricket?
Since his debut, among players with at least 50 innings, Imam ranks fifth for the frequency with which he has been run out in ODI cricket – once every twelve innings.
Highest frequency of run outs in men's ODIs since Imam-ul-Haq's debut (min. 50 inns)
| Name | Innings | Run outs | Innings per run out |
| Adil Rashid | 53 | 8 | 6.6 |
| Dipendra Singh Airee | 56 | 7 | 8.0 |
| Jason Holder | 62 | 6 | 10.3 |
| Richie Berrington | 63 | 6 | 10.5 |
| Imam-ul-Haq | 72 | 6 | 12.0 |
On the all-time list though, neither Imam nor Inzamam comes out looking particularly poor in this regard. Among all batters with at least 50 ODI innings, South Africa's David Richardson tops the list with a run out once every 4.8 innings (16 out of 77).
Highest frequency of run outs in men's ODIs (min. 50 inns)
| Player | Innings | Run outs | Innings per run out |
| David Richardson | 77 | 16 | 4.8 |
| Simon O'Donnell | 64 | 13 | 4.9 |
| Sanjay Manjrekar | 70 | 14 | 5.0 |
| Paul Reiffel | 57 | 11 | 5.2 |
| Craig McDermott | 78 | 15 | 5.2 |
Inzamam's 40 run outs may be the joint-second most ever, but a large part of that is down to his long career (350 innings). At a run out once every 8.8 innings, he ranks 84th out of 479 players. Imam's frequency of once every 12 innings ranks 171st.
Both of these are better than the likes of Marvan Atapattu (41/259, once every 6.3 innings) and Rahul Dravid (40/318, once every 8.0 innings), neither of whom are remembered as particularly poor runners between the wickets.
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