Cricketers at some point in time in their illustrious careers have definitely lost their cool and indulged in some ugly confrontations. Even some highly worshipped names have been involved in the ugliest of verbal battles.
Wasim Akram, the Sultan of Swing was once involved in such a controversy marred by murkiness. Akram is known for his humble and soft spoken nature and has hardly lost his temper. But back in his early days, when his bowling was a menace for the batsmen, he too indulged in some verbal volleys. Akram was a typical aggressive fast bowler and completely followed the no nonsense approach for the batsmen. Akram breathed fire and there are very few batsmen who have escaped unharmed from his fury.
One such incident took place in the third test of Pakistan’s 1984/85 tour of New Zealand. The tour was Akram’s first assignment in international cricket and the southpaw was just a teenager back then. Even though he was just 18, his bowling terrorized the Kiwis in their own backyard. His ferocious pace was simply too hot to handle. At 18, he displayed the traits of a bowler who already was a legend. Such was the menace in Akram’s bowling.
Pakistan went into the third test in Dunedin in need of a desperate win as they were 0-1 down. Javed Miandad, the skipper of Pakistan wanted to square the series at any cost. The third test was a low scoring thriller as both the sides were dismissed for less than 300 in their first innings. Pakistan though had the upper hand as they were 54 runs ahead. The visitors set the host a tricky target of 278 runs to win.
Akram was simply lethal and Pakistan seemed to be the clear favourites to defend the total. Chasing a total in excess of 250 in the fourth innings is always tricky. Akram troubled the Kiwi batsmen and he was at his absolute best. New Zealand were reeling at 228-8, still needing 50 runs to win. They were effectively 9 down as Lance Cairns was injured and couldn’t take any further part in the game. Akram already had scalped five wickets.
Things took an ugly turn when the last pair of Coney and Chatfield were trying to battle it out. Akram, with his adrenaline pumping bowled a vicious bouncer to the number 11, which hit him on the head. Back in those days, the bowlers were not allowed to bowl bouncers to tailenders. The umpire immediately gave Akram a stern warning. Suddenly, skipper Miandad intervened and argued with the umpire. Miandad was heard telling the umpire that it was fine if Akram bowled a bouncer. Miandad even threatened to walk off if Akram was taken off the attack. The umpires gave a warning and the game went on.
However, the Pakistanis took no heed from the warning and Akram bowled a similar delivery to Chatfield, which hit the poor tailender right on the head. The umpire had enough and took no time in taking Akram off the attack. The Pakistanis protested, but in vain.
It was immature of Akram to do that back then. The Kiwis still needed quite a few runs with just one wicket in hand. Akram had been the best bowler for his side, and once he was taken off, the Kiwis won and scripted a memorable win. Had Akram kept his cool, then Pakistan could have won and could have saved the series. But that was never to be.