Profile:
Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket pundit, coach, and former cricketer who served as the captain of the Pakistan national team. Akram is recognized as one of the finest fast bowlers in cricket history. He is known as the “King of Reverse Swing” or the “Sultan of Swing.” Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be included in an all-time Test World XI to commemorate Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack’s 150th anniversary in October 2013.
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He is the global record holder for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets 502. He is regarded as one of the creators of reverse swing bowling and one of its best exponents.
During the 2003 World Cup, he became the first bowler in ODI cricket to surpass the 500-wicket milestone. Wisden published their lone list of all-time great players in 2002. With a rating of 1223.5, Wasim was voted the finest ODI bowler of all time, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath, and Muralitharan. In 356 ODI matches, Wasim collected 23 four-wicket hauls. Akram was one of five new members admitted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame on September 30, 2009. He was the Kolkata Knight Riders, bowling coach.
However, he stepped down from the post for IPL 6, claiming a desire to spend more time with his family in Karachi, and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji for IPL 2017.
He was the director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League until August 2017, when he joined Multan Sultans. He was selected to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s seven-member advisory cricket council in October 2018. He became the President of Karachi Kings, a PSL franchise, in November 2018.
On March 23, 2019, the Pakistani government awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz for his lifetime achievements in cricket.
Early and personal life:
Wasim Akram was born in Lahore, Pakistan, on June 3, 1966, to a Punjabi family. Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, Akram’s father, was born in a hamlet near Amritsar and relocated to Kamonki in Pakistani Punjab following India’s division in 1947. He received his education at Lahore’s Government Islamia College in Civil Lines. Akram was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 30.
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“I recall how surprised I was since I was a healthy athlete with no family history of diabetes, so I wasn’t expecting it at all. It seemed weird that it happened to me at the age of 30, but it was a really stressful time for me at the time, and physicians indicated it might have triggered it.” Since then, he’s tried to get active in numerous diabetes awareness projects.
In 1995, Akram married Huma Mufti. Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 1998) are their two boys from their 14-year marriage (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure on October 25, 2009, at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India.
On July 7, 2013, it was announced that Akram had been engaged to Shaniera Thompson, an Australian woman whom he met in Melbourne in 2011. On August 12, 2013, Akram married Shaniera and declared that he had begun a new life on a joyous note. “I married Shaniera in a small ceremony in Lahore, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and my kids,” he was reported as adding.
With his wife and children, he relocated from Lahore to Karachi. On September 3, 2014, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, the Akram family’s third. Shaniera gave birth to Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram on December 27, 2014, in Melbourne.
Domestic career:
Akram joined Lancashire County Cricket Club in England in 1988. He began their bowling attack in the ECB Trophy, Benson & Hedges Cup, and National League events from 1988 to 1998. At Lancashire’s matches, he was a favorite among the local British supporters, who sang a song called “Wasim for England.” Lancashire won the ECB Trophy and Axa League in 1998, with Akram as captain, and placed second in the championship event, despite losing only five matches in all competitions.
Test cricket:
In 1985, Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand, and he took 10 wickets in his second Test match. He was an obscure club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college squad a few weeks before his selection for the Pakistan team. He attended the tryouts in Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, but did not receive an opportunity to bowl for the first two days. He received his opportunity on the third day, and his performance persuaded Javed Miandad to insist on his inclusion in the national squad. As a result, despite his lack of local experience, Akram was granted the chance to play for Pakistan.
During the late 1980s, Akram’s ascent in international cricket was meteoric. In 1988, he was a member of the Pakistan cricket squad that visited the West Indies. In the late 1980s, though, a groin injury curtailed his career. He resurfaced in the 1990s as a fast bowler who concentrated more on swing and accuracy after two operations. With 414 wickets, Wasim Akram is Pakistan’s all-time leading wicket-taker in test cricket.
One Day International:
In 1984, Akram made his ODI debut for Pakistan against New Zealand, captained by Zaheer Abbas. In the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship, he gained fame after taking five wickets in his third one-day international against Australia. Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and skipper Allan Border were among the wickets he took. Wasim Akram is Pakistan’s all-time leading wicket-taker in One-Day International cricket.
Akram collected five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50 in the Rothmans Four-Nations Cup in 1984–85 and the Rothmans Sharjah Cup in 1985–86. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup was held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and included Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In the second semi-final of the tournament, Akram and Abdul Qadir bowled out New Zealand’s batting line-up for 64 runs. That game was won by Pakistan with more than 27 overs to spare, making it one of the most significant victories in Pakistani history. He and Imran Khan shared five wickets in the final against India. Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri were among Akram’s wickets.
Akram struggled on Pakistani surfaces in the 1987 Cricket World Cup, which was staged for the first time in South Asia; he only took 7 wickets in the seven matches, averaging over 40 runs per wicket. Akram has two matches against the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and England. Pakistan hosted all of the group matches. Akram bowled 4 for 25 against Australia in the 1988–89 Benson & Hedges World Series.
Emergence:
During the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, in the 2nd Match versus West Indies, Akram collected his hundredth wicket in Sharjah. Curtly Ambrose was his hundredth wicket. For the second time in his career, he achieved a five-wicket haul in the match. Akram scored his first hat-trick against West Indies in the same match. All three batsmen were dismissed. Akram scored his second ODI hat-trick against Australia on 4 May 1990 at Sharjah. This time, all three batsmen were bowled.
Akram played a key role in Pakistan’s victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, which was contested in Australia and New Zealand. His performance of 33 runs off 19 balls in the final versus England helped Pakistan to a total of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Later in the English batting innings, Akram grabbed the wicket of Ian Botham early on, and when he was called back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he delivered a burst of bowling that saw Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis bowled in consecutive deliveries in one over.
For his efforts, he was named Man of the Match in the final. Akram got two consecutive four-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1993, with seven of the eight wickets falling to LBW or bowling.
He grabbed 5 wickets against South Africa in the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (which included Pakistan, the West Indies, and South Africa) and claimed his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. In the calendar year 1993, Akram had his greatest year in ODIs, with 46 wickets. His average was under 19, and his economy rate was under 3.8 runs per over. In 1993, he got six 4-wicket hauls, the most of any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed Pakistan’s quarterfinal match against India, which resulted in the team’s elimination.
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Wasim’s illustrious career was marred by controversy, not least on his inaugural tour as Pakistan’s captain in the Caribbean in April 1993. He was detained along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists during the team’s stopover in Grenada; he was charged with marijuana possession. He grabbed 84 wickets in 39 matches between 1994 and 1996.
Between January 1992 and December 1997, Akram appeared in 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, including 14 four-wicket hauls in one-day internationals.
Late career:
In 1999, he guided Pakistan to the World Cup final, when they surrendered and were beaten by Australia by eight wickets with about 30 overs to spare. The match-fixing accusations began here, with critics believing Akram had rigged up the match for Australia. None of the charges, however, could be proven. In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he was Pakistan’s top bowler, taking 12 wickets in six matches. Pakistan, on the other hand, failed to make it to the tournament’s super six, and Akram was one of eight players fired by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records:
In 104 Tests, Akram received 17 Man-of-the-Match honours. In international cricket, he has two ODI hat-tricks and two Test hat-tricks. As a result, he and Lasith Malinga share the record for most international hat-tricks. In one-day internationals, he won 22 Man-of-the-Match accolades. He captured 326 wickets at under 19 each with a run rate of 3.70 in 199 ODI match victories, including 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257-run performance against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the greatest by a number-8 batsman in a Test match. In that game, he smashed 12 sixes, which is still the record for most sixes by any player in a single Test inning.
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Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players to be left out of the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and he was also left out of the Pakistan team for the Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series that followed. He did not play in a farewell match due to his exclusion from the team. Akram played with Hampshire until the end of the English season, fulfilling his contract.
Post-retirement:
Media career:
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked as a sports pundit for a variety of networks, including ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital. He provided commentary for the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, among others.
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