Imam-ul-Haq said players have a ‘fear of failure’ when playing for Pakistan. (File Photo/AFP)

Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq said how India backed Rohit Sharma even when he was not doing well should be seen as an example on how cricket teams should treat players.

Saying that there is a communication gap between players and the Pakistan team management currently, Imam said they should learn from how India “trusted” Rohit even when he “did not do well”.

“Communication gap between the board and players also results in inconsistency. This is not the case with other teams around the world. If you look at the example of Rohit Sharma, who did not do well initially in his career but India trusted him and he came good later,” Imam said on an Instagram Live session.

Speaking about the current Pakistan team, Imam said, “Our team has a fear of failure, although that is my personal assessment, which is why players don’t perform consistently. They are worried about getting dropped from the side after two or three poor performances.”

Having begun his career with a hundred on debut in 2017, Imam ul Haq had begun his international career on a very bright note, but the 24-year-old has found himself out of the playing XI many times in recent times. He made it to the XI in one Test and one T20I on the tour of Australia in late 2019, without making much impact, and then failed to make the team for the Sri Lanka and Bangladesh series that followed.