Wasim Akram](http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/PLAYERS/PAK/W/WASIM_AKRAM_07001775/)
Born: 3 June 1966, Lahore, Punjab
Major Teams: Pakistan Automobiles Corporation, Lahore Cricket Association, Lancashire, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan, Hampshire.
Known As: Wasim Akram
Pronounced: Wasim Akram
Batting Style: Left Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Left Arm Fast
Test Debut: Pakistan v New Zealand at Auckland, 2nd Test, 1984/85
Latest Test: Pakistan v Bangladesh at Dhaka, 1st Test, 2001/02
ODI Debut: Pakistan v New Zealand at Faisalabad, 2nd ODI, 1984/85
Latest ODI: Pakistan v Zimbabwe at Bulawayo, World Cup, 2002/03
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1993
Career Statistics:
TESTS
(including 09/01/2002)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 104 147 19 2898 257* 22.64 3 7 44 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 3771.1 871 9779 414 23.62 7-119 25 5 54.6 2.59
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
(including 04/03/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 356 280 55 3717 86 16.52 88.28 0 6 88 0
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 3031 238 11812 502 23.52 5-15 17 6 36.2 3.89
FIRST-CLASS
(1984/85 - 2003; last updated 17/05/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 255 352 39 7157 257* 22.86 7 24 97 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 8299.1 1943 22346 1032 21.65 8-30 70 16 48.2 2.69
LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(1984/85 - 2003; last updated 17/05/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 588 464 95 6982 89* 18.92 0 17 147 0
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 4905.3 384 19105 875 21.83 5-10 34 12 33.6 3.89
- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.
Profile:
The all-time great
Yet another in the long line of Pakistan’s precocious cricketers, Wasim Akram was being compared to legendary Australian left-handed quickie, Allan Davidson, even before he had played his first Test. By the time he played his 100th Test, he had established himself not only as the greatest southpaw ever, but also as one of all-time greats of the game.
Brought out of the wilderness by that astute spotter of new talent, Javed Miandad, he took to the big league as easily as a fish to water. In only his second Test against New Zealand at Dunedin, the prodigy had a haul of 10 wickets, becoming the youngest bowler to achieve the signal honour.
He was lightning fast then, revelling in his youth and was also quick to learn all the tricks of the trade from his mentor, Imran Khan, who was generous in imparting his knowledge to the young protege. Under the master’s benign gaze, he quickly fashioned his lethal swinging yorker, deceptive variation of pace, the one moving sharply into the right-handed batsman as well as his natural away-swinger slanting across the right-hander, and employed this formidable array to telling effect. He was soon being singled out as being among the all-time greats of bowling.
After 15 years of intense international cricket, both for his country and in county cricket in England, his pace may have slowed down a fraction but his penetration and ability to beat the bat almost at will remains unrivalled. And he has a glorious record to show for his efforts. Wasim Akram is the only bowler to have captured more than 400 wickets both in Test and one-day cricket. The only one to have passed 400 in the limited-overs cricket, he also has a brace of hat-tricks in both forms of the game.
As captain, his greatest disappointment was in not being able to emulate the feat of Imran Khan and winning the 1999 World Cup, bowing out to Australia in the final: a case of so near, yet so far. Yet another major reverse also fell in late 1999, when with him leading the side Down Under, Pakistan was blanked out by the Aussies in the short rubber.
To this greatest of left-handed bowlers the game has known, another letdown must be his inability to establish himself as a genuine all-rounder in the class of Imran. Despite flashes of brilliance, as in the '92 World Cup and in the Sheikhupura Test against Zimbabwe, when he made 257, he has not fulfilled his tremendous potential - and cricket is the loser for it.
The match-fixing scandal that has haunted him for nearly half a decade is also a blot on an otherwise brilliant career.
Despite these, Akram holds his own in the pantheon of all-time greats by the sheer dint of his performances, his unmatched versatility and guile.
WHAT a great contest that would have been :k:
…
Hats off to him :k: