Cricket Wasim Akram's Biography

Full Name: Wasim Akram

Born: June 3, 1966, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Current Age: 44 Years 253 Days

Major Teams: Pakistan, Hampshire, Lahore, Lancashire, Pakistan Automobiles Corporation, Pakistan International Airlines

Batting Style: Left-Hand Bat

Bowling Style: Left-Arm Fast

Batting And Fielding Averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg.	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	104	147	19	2898	257*	22.64	-	-	3	7	-	57	44	0
ODIs	356	280	55	3717	86	16.52	4208	88.33	0	6	-	-	88	0
First-Class	257	355	40	7161	257*	22.73	-	-	7	24	-	-	97	0
List-A	594	467	97	6993	89*	18.90	-	-	0	17	-	-	147	0
Twenty20	5	5	1	55	24	13.75	-	122.2	0	0	6	1	0	0

Bowling Averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Avg.	Econ	SR	4W	5W	10
Tests	104	181	22627	9779	414	7/119	11/110	23.62	2.59	54.6	20	25	5
ODIs	356	351	18186	11812	502	5/15	5/15	23.52	3.89	36.2	17	6	0
First-Class	257	-	50277	22549	1042	8/30	-	21.64	2.69	48.2	-	70	16
List-A	594	-	29719	19303	881	5/10	5/10	21.91	3.89	33.7	34	12	0
Twenty20	5	5	114	121	8	2/19	2/19	15.12	6.36	14.2	0	0	0

Wasim Akram Biography

Wasim
Akram born 3 June 1966 is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and
left-handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan national
cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches.

Wasim
Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in cricket history.
He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881
and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan
in terms of One Day International wickets with 502. He is considered to
be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing
bowling.
The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted
in accusations of ball tampering by cricket critics, although the skill
of the reverse swing delivery has now been accepted as a legitimate
feature of ability in cricket. Wasim Akram's later career was also
tarnished with accusations of match fixing by critics, although these
remain unproven.

On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Early and Personal Life

Akram was born in 1966, in Lahore, Pakistan.

He
was educated in Islamia College in Lahore, where he played as an
opening bowler and batsman. Like several other Pakistani cricketers
during the 1980s, his inclusion into the national side was at the behest
of a senior player in the team, which in Akram's case, was Javed
Miandad.

Wasim
Akram was diagnosed with diabetes at the peak of his career, but
despite the initial psychological blow, he managed to regain his form
and went on to produce fine cricketing performances. Since then he has
actively sought to be involved in various awareness-raising campaigns
for diabetes.

He
was married to Huma Mufti, in 1995. They had two sons Taimur and Akbar,
from their marriage of fifteen years. Huma died of multiple organ
failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.

International career

First-class cricket

In
1988 he signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and went
on to become their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998,
he opened their bowling attack in their ECB Trophy, Benson and Hedges
Cup and National League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local
British fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at
Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the
ECB Trophy and Axa League and finished second in the championship
tournament despite losing only five matches in all competitions
throughout the season. Apart from the National League second division
title in 2003, this was the last time Lancashire won a trophy.

Test Cricket

Akram
made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985
and in only his second Test match, he achieved 10 wickets in the match. A
few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an
unknown club cricketer who had failed to even make it to his college
team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan,
but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third
day he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist
upon his inclusion in the national team. Wasim Akram was hence given an
opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic
experience. Later that season he opened the bowling attack with Imran
Khan, who became his mentor at and after the World Championship of
Cricket in Australia.

In
the 1987 Cricket World Cup, when Pakistan played against the West
Indies, Akram bowled to Viv Richards in the late overs of the innings
but Richards, who is regarded as the best batsman during that period,
struggled against Akram's bowling performances.

Akram's
rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. When
Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1988, he looked to be the fastest
bowler between the two sides. However, a groin injury impeded his career
in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s
as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.

One Day International

Wasim
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in
Australia, when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final against
England, his batting performance during his innings of 33 runs off 19
balls, pushed Pakistan to a respectable score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.
Akram then took the important wicket of Ian Botham early on the English
batting innings and when brought back into the bowling attack later on,
with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a devastating spell of
bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in
successive deliveries in one over. His excellent performances earned him
the Man of the Match award for the final.

He
also captained Pakistan with some success. The high points of his
captaincy was the 1996-1997 victory in the World Series Cricket in
Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998-1999 and in 1999, when
Pakistan reached the 1999 Cricket World Cup final. The low point was the
1996 Cricket World Cup in Pakistan and India, when he had to pull out
of the quarter final match against India, citing injury. After
Pakistan's defeat, there were angry protests outside his home and riots
across the country from angry fans who accused the team of throwing the
match and a government inquiry was launched into the failure.

In
1999, he led Pakistan to the brink of victory in the World Cup before
they capitulated and was defeated by Australia in the final, by eight
wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match
fixing controversies, as critics believed Wasim Akram had set up the
match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.

He
was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup taking 19
wickets in 7 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the "Super Six"
phase of the tournament and Akram was one of the eight players to be
sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.

Retirement

On
May 18, 2003, at the age of 36, Akram abruptly announced his retirement
from international cricket, ending a career which spanned 19 years. He
had suggested that he was ready to quit several times towards the end of
his career, but Pakistan's sub-par performance in the World Cup proved
to be the deciding factor.

Prior
to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the
Sharjah Cup in April 2003, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad
for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his
omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match.

Wasim Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.

Post Retirement

Media Career

Since
retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for
television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator
for ESPN Star Sports, ARY Digital and among others. He did commentary on
a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket
World Cup match between Australia v India in a Super Six Match held in
Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC
Champions Trophy in South Africa and among others.

Coaching Career

In
2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata
Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav
Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India,
during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never
happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was
appointed as the bowling coach for the franchise. While working for the
Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of
Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also
been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps; his most notable discovery
being the teenage Pakistani international, Mohammad Aamer.

Wasim Akram’s Skills in Cricket

During
his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.
Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length,
accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both
inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could
bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse
swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a
bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of the "Sultan of Swing".

As
well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also
focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal
inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119
were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with
Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s.
Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team,
were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.

Wasim
Akram was also skilled with the bat and was regarded as a bowling
all-rounder. He was especially effective against spin bowlers. However,
he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and
giving away his wicket too cheaply for a player of his talent. He did
silence his critics and the media in October 1996 when he scored 257
runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against Zimbabwe at
Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as
his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory
in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable to the Pakistan
ODI side, such as his match winning performance in the Nehru Cup, when
needing six runs and two balls to win the match; he hit the first
delivery he faced for six runs and secured the cup.

Award and Records

• Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.
• In
  his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani
  record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of
  22.64.
• In
  One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at
  an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
• Akram
  was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400
  wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has
  since achieved this.
• Akram
  also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a
  total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record
  during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from
  39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to
  me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it
  both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.
  To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other
  side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break
  records here and there."
• Akram
  took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two each in Tests
  matches and One Day Internationals. He is the only bowler in cricket to
  have achieved four hat-tricks. He is also one of only three bowlers to
  have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble
  and Jimmy Matthews. Akram is also one of only three bowlers to have
  taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks, the others being
  Pakistan offspin bowler, Saqlain Mushtaq and Sri Lankan fast bowler
  Chaminda Vaas. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were
  taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played
  against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also
  one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day
  International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad
  Sami.
• Playing
  in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990-1991, he
  became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over
  during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a
  hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a
  dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
• Akram
  has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test
  cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe
  at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world
  record for Test cricket.
• He also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
• He
  has scored the record number of runs in One Day International matches
  by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred. His
  highest score was 86 runs.