Great Wasim Akram bowling after 10 years

From a short run-up, this left-handed, former Pakistan fast bowler could deliver balls with surprising pace. Wasim Akram's run up was distinctive- as was his tendency to shield the ball from the batsman's view before delivering it. His main bowling weapon was swing and seam at high-speeds. Akram was also a bowling all-rounder, since he also made good contributions as an attacking left-handed batsman. Many cricket pundits believe that Akram was the greatest left-arm fast bowler ever to have played cricket.
Born in Lahore, Pakistan on June 3rd, 1966, Wasim Akram was a cricket prodigy. He made his First class debut at 18 and made his Test debut in 1985- after just one season of First class cricket. That was the beginning of 20 years as one of the wiliest fast bowlers in the modern game. Akram's use of swing and seam was so crafty, that he was able to get the ball to swing away (in the air) from a batsman and then seam (off the pitch) into his pads.
Akram had an impressive record in all forms of the game- being a versatile cricketer. He had the distinction of playing 104 Test matches, from which he took 414 wickets at an average of 23.62. He was as much of a strike bowler as Waqar Younis, but was the mainstay of Pakistan's bowling attack for most of his career. Wasim's batting- though somewhat unfulfilled- proved that he was a capable lower-order batsman if not a genuine all-rounder. Akram scored an unbeaten Test double-century and averaged 22.64 runs in Tests. In all, he managed to score three Test centuries.
In ODIs, Akram was even more impressive. He outwitted batsmen 502 times from only 356 ODIs. Akram was the first bowler to reach 400 and 500 wickets in ODIs. A miserly economy rate of 3.89 accompanied his fantastic bowling strike rate in ODIs. He also plundered 3,717 ODI runs at a decent average of 16.52.
Akram's First class career was exceptional as he was only one of a select few bowlers to take over 1000 First class wickets. In one-day games, Wasim managed to scalp 881 wickets at an average of 21.91. Akram played many of his First class matches in Pakistan. However, he also had a long stint with Lancashire in the English County. At the end of his career, he also had a brief stint with Hampshire.



Great Wasim Akram bowling after 10 years... by WaseemButtOfficial