Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s legendary pacers, are still regarded as the most thrilling pace bowling duo of all time. They played in an era where each team had a formidable pace bowling duo such as Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh of West Indies, Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming of Australia, Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald of South Africa, Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa of Sri Lanka among others, but Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis stand out for being the ‘King of Swings’.
During their careers, the duo would be pitted against the best of batters. Their rivalries with the likes of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Aravinda de Silva, Steve Waugh, and many more are the stuff of legends. However, the 1990s would always be known for two batters who stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Unlike today, where the Fab 5 are dominating the batting, the 90s had two batting greats – Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.
Wasim Akram Would Want To Read Brian Lara’s Mind
The 1990s, or even today when that era is mentioned, is dominated with one question whether Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara was the best. While the two geniuses had their own aura, Sachin Tendulkar could not score a triple-century in Tests like his West Indies counterpart, or neither could Brian Lara emulate the ODI success of the Indian legend who scored the first ODI double ton.
Unlike other pacers of the previous generation, Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis were prompt with their replies. On being asked to select between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis replied: ‘Brian Lara’. The second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs, Wasim Akram, even revealed that the one player whose mind he would like to read is that of the former West Indies captain Brian Lara.
“Whose mind would I want to read? I suppose for me to read someone’s mind, it has to be of some greats of the game. Maybe, Brian Charles Lara because I would want to figure how can I get him out. What is going through his head,” Akram said.
Brian Lara topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with an unbeaten 501 runs for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history.
Brian Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004.
Waqar Younis Said It’s Difficult To Pick One Among Brian Lara And Sachin Tendulkar, But He Would Agree With Legend Wasim Akram
Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs. Incredibly, he retained a divine enthusiasm for the game till his last match. He also scored the first double-century in one-day cricket. In 2012, he became the first player to score 100 international centuries.
Later that year, though, he announced his retirement from ODIs. And on November 16, 2013, Sachin Tendulkar retired from Test cricket after a memorable 200th Test-the most by any player.
Meanwhile, Waqar said: “It is a difficult one. We played with a lot of legends. My friend here (Wasim) is a legend of the game. I would like to be in his mind when he used to bowl.”
Waqar Younis even mentioned Brian Lara as the best batter he has ever bowled to, while Wasim Akram went with former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe.