Wasim Akram, the former Pakistani left-arm pacer, who had the most feared reverse swing, has revealed the player who played him better than anyone else. The legendary bowler finished his career as Pakistan’s top wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs. He was also the leading wicket-taker in ODIs, with 502 wickets.
The partnership of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis was lethal and they proved a menace to the opposition batsmen. Akram played a major role in Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup triumph. He also led Pakistan to the 1999 World Cup finals which they lost to Australia.
‘What’s your secret?’ Wasim Akram asks Martin Crowe
Wasim Akram revealed New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe had mastered the art of playing his swing balls. New Zealand were touring Pakistan and Wasim Akram finished the two first Tests with 10 wickets missing the third due to injury. His bowling partner Waqar Younis finished with 29 wickets in the three matches. He recalled while the other New Zealand players had a hard time playing their deadly swings Martin Crowe had no troubles.
“I think the ball used to get reverse after five-six overs, don’t ask me why. It was against New Zealand and Waqar got 30 [29] wickets in three Test matches and I got 16 [10] in two and got injured.
“Martin Crowe got two hundreds [one hundred] and I asked him after the series, ‘What’s your secret?’ He said, ‘I just try to play you on the front foot and I play for the in-swingers every time and the out-swingers automatically miss the edge.” Wasim Akram told Sky Sports.
Martin Crowe managed to score 244 runs at an average of 61 at the end of the series and was New Zealand’s highest run-scorer.
Wasim Akram was a unique talent who directly played international cricket without ever playing first-class cricket. He had a glorious career with Pakistan and retired as the leading ODI wicket-taker, he was later overtaken by Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
Post-retirement Akram has opted to be a commentator and a coach. He has coached Kolkata Knight riders in the IPL and has steered them to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.