Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, born in Lahore on 3 June 1966. Known as the "Sultan of Swing", he is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. ^{1 2 3 4}

In October 2013 he was the only Pakistani cricketer named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As captain he led Pakistan to the final of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and he was part of the squad that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup. ¹

A left-arm fast bowler, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and is second only to Muttiah Muralitharan in ODI wickets, with 502. He is considered one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent, of reverse swing bowling, and was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket, during the 2003 World Cup. Wisden's only all-time list, in 2002, rated him the best ODI bowler of all time. ¹

Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore; his father, Chaudhary Muhammad Akram Arain, was originally from a village near Amritsar and the family moved to Pakistani Punjab after the Partition of India in 1947. He completed his early education at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of thirty he was diagnosed with diabetes, which he described as a shock for a healthy sportsman with no family history of it, and he has since been involved in diabetes-awareness campaigns. ¹

The museum records his family life only in outline: he married Huma Mufti in 1995 and they had two sons; Huma died in 2009; he married Shaniera Thompson in 2013 and they have a daughter, and he moved with his family from Lahore to Karachi. ¹

He began as a tape-ball cricketer and made his first-class debut for a Patron's XI against New Zealand. In 1988 he signed for Lancashire, opening their bowling attack from 1988 to 1998 in England's one-day cup competitions; local fans sang "Wasim for England", and in 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and the Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship. He also played for Lahore and Pakistan International Airlines, and ended his domestic career with Hampshire in 2003. ¹

He made his Test debut against New Zealand in January 1985 and took ten wickets in his second Test; weeks before his selection he had been an unknown club cricketer spotted at trials by Javed Miandad, who insisted on his inclusion. A groin injury impeded him in the late 1980s, and after two operations he re-emerged in the 1990s focusing on swing and accuracy. He is Pakistan's highest wicket-taker in both Tests (414) and ODIs (502). ¹

He was a significant figure in Pakistan's 1992 World Cup win in Australia and New Zealand: in the final against England he scored 33 off 19 balls, took Ian Botham's wicket early, and, brought back with the ball reverse swinging, bowled Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in successive deliveries, earning the Player of the Match award for the final. He captained Pakistan to the 1999 World Cup final, which they lost to Australia. ¹

This section is reported from the sources and is not a verdict by the museum. The article reports that his later career was shadowed by match-fixing allegations; that he announced his retirement in 1998 while fighting them and reconsidered at the insistence of the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman; that none of the allegations could be proven; and that, although he was Pakistan's best bowler at the 2003 World Cup, Pakistan's early exit led the board to drop eight players including him, and he retired shortly afterwards. ¹

He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame on 30 September 2009, worked as bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders and in director and bowling-coach roles in the Pakistan Super League, and was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan on 23 March 2019 for his lifetime achievements in cricket. He works as a commentator and coach. ¹

His public significance lies in his standing among the greatest left-arm fast bowlers in history, his List A and ODI wicket records, his decisive role in Pakistan's 1992 World Cup title, and his later work as a coach, commentator and diabetes-awareness campaigner. ¹

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