- Wasim Akram
Nobody; neither Waqar, nor Imran, nor Sarfaraz; had the mastery of reverse swing as Wasim Akram. Undoubtedly the best left-arm bowler of all time, Akram had the ball on a string. It seemed like a puppet show when he made the ball move, and he definitely was a master puppeteer.
Akram made his debut for Pakistan at just the age of 18, took 414 wickets from 104 Tests and 502 wickets in 356 ODIs before retiring in 2003. He had the ability to swing the old ball both ways, giving him an edge over his contemporaries.
The 1992 World Cup final between Pakistan and England in Melbourne quite aptly summed up the extraordinary skill Akram had with the old ball. In the 35th over of England’s run chase, Akram, bowling around the wicket, accounted for Allan Lamb with a ball that was coming in with the angle before leaving Lamb at the last moment, ultimately the ball knocked Lamb’s off-stump out of the ground.