1992 World Cup final. Alan Lamb paired with Neil Fairbrother. There is no wicket even in 13 overs. Pakistan captain Imran Khan hands the ball to young Wasim Akram. This bowler who came from Lahore was 26 years old. Although he has completed 8 years in international cricket.

He was a prodigy when he made his debut for Pakistan at the age of 18. Came in 1992 with the title of one of the best pacers in the world. He repaid Imran Khan’s trust in that over. Two outstanding swing deliveries in the last two balls of the over. Chris Lewis returns after Alan Lamb. The two balls in the Melbourne final are said to be the most magical two deliveries in World Cup history.

England could not recover from that shock. England’s wait for a World Cup is over after twenty years. And Pakistan is still satisfied with one World Cup.

Wasim Akram came as a prodigy or a young man with special qualities. Then he became the best of the time. By the time he bid farewell to cricket after the 2003 World Cup, he had become the Sultan of Swing. 916 international wickets next to the name. He became the first bowler to complete the milestone of 500 wickets in ODIs. One of the greatest pacers of all time was born on this day in 1966 (June 3) in Lahore.

Islamia College from Karachi Road
Pakistan cricket has always been a breeding ground for pacers. However, the pace revolution that Wasim Akram started in the eighties, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Raufra have grown up as a part of that trend. Dennis Lillee, Jeffrey Thomson or Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner at that time, it was impossible that someone from the subcontinent would become the best in pace bowling.

Wasim Akram has done it, done it very well. During his stay in Karachi with Nani, he used to play street tennis by twisting electrical tape. Tape tennis in colloquial terms. He used to take some tape from that ball and try to make extra swing. He later applied that tape tennis education as a teenager to the 22-yard pitch. What has come to be known as reverse swing in modern times.

Raised by a businessman father, Wasim Akram originally wanted to be a tennis player. Another hobby was studying art. But left everything and became a cricketer. Even after secondary school, he was admitted to Islamia College as a left-arm pace bowler. He did not make the team in his first year of college, as the captain himself was a left-arm pacer.

However, in the second year, Wasim himself left for Pakistan’s national team. In a match against Lahore Gymkhana, Wasim Akram took four wickets including the wickets of Ramiz Raza and Intikhab Alam. This success in club cricket brought him into the limelight. After that Wasim Akram got a call to former fast bowler Khan Mohammad’s camp.

Test debut without playing first-class cricket
The camp started in June 1984. Ramiz Raja, Ijaz Ahmed, Mohsin Kamal were also in this camp. Wasim Akram later won the World Cup with Ramiz Raja and Ijaz Ahmed. Mohsin Kamal is now Bangladesh’s fitness coach.

In that camp, the new ball gets a chance to bowl only once. That’s the game. At the age of 18, he came to the national team after bowling only once in the net. Wasim Akram later recalled, “I was surprised when I got a call-up for a three-day match against New Zealand.” I didn’t play any first-class cricket then. I still did not believe that I would get a chance in the XI. But the day before the match Javed Miandad said, you are playing.

Recalling that three-day warm-up match, Wasim Akram said, ‘For an 18-year-old, that start was something special. Directly into the team by just hitting the net once. John Wright got the first wicket, got seven wickets with 50 runs in the first innings. Two more wickets in the next innings too.

“I really wanted to play Test cricket but I didn’t think I would get the chance then. I got a call to the camp when the Pakistan team will tour New Zealand. Javed Miandad made it clear to the selectors that he wants me in the team.

Reigns in county cricket and internationals
During a series between Pakistan and England in April 1987, English batsman Neil Fairbrother asked Wasim Akram if he wanted to play for Lancashire. Kishore Wasim countered the question, in the league there? Fairbrother’s proposal was actually bigger. He was talking about the Lancashire County team.

Wasim Akram later played 11 years in that county. Fairbrother was later beaten in the 1992 World Cup final as well. Wasim Akram became an integral part of the team day by day. Highest wicket taker in 1992 World Cup. Imran Khan is the captain of Pakistan in the next era.

Only 2 bowlers in the history of cricket have taken minimum 400 wickets in both ODI and Test formats; Muttiah Muralitharan and Wasim Akram. Wasim Akram is the only fast bowler among them. An ODI career of 18 years and 110 days as a fast bowler indicates his incredible fitness.

Only 4 bowlers are among the top 20 in the list of longest-serving cricketers in ODI cricket. Among these four bowlers, except Wasim Akram, the other three are spinners.

Unique outstanding Wasim
Let’s discuss some of the achievements of Wasim Akram. Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, Wasim Akram was named ‘Wiesden Cricketer of the Year’ in 1993. Wasim was also selected as the best ODI bowler of the last century by Wisden.

Wasim Akram is the only bowler to have two hat-tricks in both Test and ODI formats. In between, two hat-tricks of one-dayers are directly bowled. This small statistic may be clear that how violent the bowler Wasim is.

Wasim Akram got 500 wickets in ODI cricket as the first bowler. Later Muralitharan broke his record but no other fast bowler could come close to this record.

He was quite effective in the lower order with the bat as well. He has three centuries in Tests, one of which was against Australia on Australian soil. He also played an innings of 257 runs against Zimbabwe, which is the highest innings in Test cricket as a number eight batsman. He also hit 12 sixes in that innings, which is the record for most sixes in one innings. This is also the record for most runs by a Pakistani captain.

Imran Khan may have regretted that Wasim Akram could have become the best all-rounder in history if he was serious with the bat. Wasim Akram did not. But a prodigy turned Sultan of Swing in a span of 18 years. What would a bowler get if he was serious with the bat?

Business Bangladesh/AK