Former Pakistan captain and left-arm pacer Wasim Akram was always a terror for almost every batsman in his generation. However, there was one batsman who always challenged Akram strongly, and he was neither the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar nor legendary Caribbean batsman Brian Lara.
The left-arm Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram was one of the greatest pace bowlers in international cricket history. He was the first bowler to take 500 wickets in ODI cricket history. In the international career between 1984 and 2003, Wasim Akram took 916 wickets (414 in Tests and 502 in ODIs) in 460 matches (104 Tests and 356 ODIs). He was one of the most consistent bowlers in international cricket history.
Many batsmen scared to face the unplayable reverse-swing deliveries from Wasim Akram. His reverse-swing deliveries played a massive role for Pakistan to achieve many successes in international cricket, including their only Cricket World Cup trophy winning in 1992. While Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara were dominating the world cricket with their extraordinary batting performances, Wasim Akram was dominating with the ball.
Wasim Akram named Martin Crowe who challenged his bowling in the best way
However, Wasim Akram always felt very difficult to bowl one special international batsman, and he was the former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe. Recently, Akram has revealed how Crowe made their bowling very difficult.
During a discussion, Wasim Akram told Fox Cricket, “Very difficult question to answer. But, I have to pick one guy it has to be Martin Crowe. The reason was he got runs against us. He was always on the front foot. As a bowler, we were left frustrated and then we used to bowl short. That’s what he wanted us to do. Nobody knew what reverse swing was back then. That’s why I will say.”
.@wasimakramlive on who are the best batsmen he's bowled to. pic.twitter.com/OcGrsG7jB4
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 3, 2019
Martin Crowe was one of the finest batsmen in international cricket history. The former New Zealand captain played international cricket between February 1982 to November 1995 where he played 77 Tests and 143 ODIs. The right-handed batsman scored 5,444 Test runs (average 45.36) and 4,704 ODI runs (average 38.55).
In his successful international career, Martin Crowe scored many runs against Pakistan. He scored 1,965 runs in 37 international matches (46 innings) against Pakistan with an average of 50.38. Wasim Akram only managed to dismiss Martin Crowe for four times.