Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram (born June 3, 1966 in Lahore) is a former fast bowler for the Pakistani cricket team and is widely regarded as one of the best bowlers to have played the game.

An emerging career

Wasim Akram was one of the finest fast bowlers of his generation. He posessed genuine pace, accurate control of line and length and seam position and could swing the ball both in and out.

Wasim made his Test debut against New Zealand in early 1985 and in his second Test itself made his presence felt with a ten wicket haul. Like a few other Pakistani cricketers of his time, he took a plunge straight from club cricket to international cricket. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistani team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it to his college team. He was spotted by the Pakistani cricket captain Javed Miandad, who came across him while paying a visit to his club. Later that season he paired with Imran Khan at the World Championship of Cricket in Australia who became his mentor.

Wasim's rise in international cricket was rapid during the initial years. When Pakistan toured West Indies in 1988, he looked to be the quickest bowler between the two sides. However, a serious groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980's. Following two surgeries he re-emerged in 1990 as a bowler who focussed more on swing and control than speed.

With a very deceptive ball-concealing action, Wasim could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. He focussed his attack on the stumps, rather than trying to find the edge of the bat. As a result, "lbw b Wasim Akram" is the 2nd most common form of dismissal not involving a fielder (b Muralitharan being first.) He was gifted with a very effective bouncer and an equally impressive yorker. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he terrorised international batsmen in the 1990s. Together they were known as "the two W's" of Pakistan Cricket.

He also had some skill with the bat, but was never a true all rounder (with a batting average of just 22.64.) He struggled against pace bowling, but was very effective against spinners. He did silence his critics in October 1996 when he scored 257 not out of a total of 553 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura.

He is one of only two cricketers to have claimed 400 wickets in both Test Matches and ODI's; Muttiah Muralitharan is the other. In a recent poll, most batsmen said they feared facing Wasim more than any other bowler.

He also bowled what some people regard as possibly the "best over ever bowled in Cricket" in the World Cup final of 1992 against England, in which he clean-bowled Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in successive deliveries.

Controversies

In 1992, after he had been successful against English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English press, though no video evidence was ever found. It may have been due to reverse swing he was getting, which was until then, a relatively unknown phenomenon in England.

A far bigger controversy was created when he was alleged to be involved in match fixing. An enquiry commission was set up by Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge Malik Mohammed Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that "This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehman(A fellow teammate) changed his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion."

One Day success

He was the first bowler in cricketing history to take more than 500 wickets in one-day internationals. A fast, furious bowler at the start of a game, he grew most devastating towards the end, when he could get the old ball to reverse swing. His swinging yorkers or toecrushers were legendary and fetched him a remarkable number of wickets.

Wasim was instrumental in Pakistan's famous World Cup victory in 1992 in Australia. He also captained Pakistan with success. The high points of his captaincy were the 1996-97 victory in the World Series in Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998-99 and in 1999, when Pakistan reached the World Cup final for the second time. The low point being the World Cup 1996 in Pakistan and India, when he had to pull out of the crucial quarter final match against India, due to a rib muscle injury.

He was Pakistan's top bowler in the 2003 World Cup taking 19 wickets in 7 matches. After the 2003 World Cup when Pakistan failed to reach the top 8 group, eight players were sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board including Akram himself, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Azhar Mahmood and Saeed Anwar.

Since then, Wasim has taken up commentary and can currently be seen as a sportscaster for the ESPN STAR Network.

County cricket

Wasim signed for Lancashire in 1988 and went on to become one of their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998, he spearheaded their attack in their Nat West Trophy, Benson & Hedges Cup and Sunday League winning sides. He was so good that local fans used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches.

Retirement

Akram retired in 2003, after a brief spell with Hampshire County Cricket Club in England. He is married to Huma Mufti, daughter of Mr. Humayaun Mufti. Huma and Wasim have 2 sons from their marriage of 10 years.

International record

In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets (a Pakistani record, and 8th all time), at an excellent bowling average of 23.62, and scored 2,898 runs, at a batting average of 22.64. In One-day Internationals, Wasim was again a force to be reckoned with, taking a world record 502 wickets in 356 appearances, scoring 3,717 runs along the way. Wasim Akram also holds the world record for most wickets in cricket world cups(a total of 55 in 38 matches Source : Cricinfo)

Uniquely, Akram took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two in Test cricket and two in ODIs. He is one of only three bowlers to have taken two hat-tricks in Tests (the others being Hugh Trumble and Jimmy Matthews). Akram's Test hat-tricks are unique, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, against Sri Lanka in 1999. He is also one of only two bowlers to have taken two hat-tricks in ODIs (the other being Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka). He is one of only two bowlers to have taken a Test hat-trick and an ODI hat-trick (the other being fellow Pakistani Mohammed Sami). Finally, playing against West Indies at Lahore in 1990-91, he became one of only three players to have taken four wickets in five balls (the other two are Maurice Allom and Chris Old, both of England). In Akram's case, the feat was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball of the series being a dot ball .

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