Legends of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sultan-c91758 of Swing
Wasim Akram, the legendary Pakistan pacer and the former captain, is one of the finest exponents of left-arm swing bowling.
The left-arm fast bowling “Guru” was born on June 3, 1966 in Lahore, and is regarded as one of the best swing bowlers the world of cricket has ever seen.
Among the contemporary Pakistan cricketers, Akram is considered as second only to the great http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Khan-c64237. Being a left-armer had always been an additional advantage for Wasim Akram as his angle often caused problems for the batsmen who were used to dealing mostly with the right-arm bowlers.
The legendary paceman made his One Day International debut on November 23, 1984, with a match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Javed-Miandad-c66580.
The left-arm pacer represented Pakistan in 356 One Day Internationals picking up 502 wickets at an average of 23.52 and an economy rate of 3.89. Also he is the second highest wicket taker in ODI cricket, just behind http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 who has 534 One Day International wickets in his bag.
With the best bowling figures of 5 for 15, the veteran has six five-wicket hauls to his name.
The legendary pacer debuted in Test cricket on January 25, 1985 with a five-dayer against Kiwis at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 at Dhaka from January 9 to 11. In his 104 Test appearances Akram picked up 414 wickets at an average of 23.62 and economy of 2.59 per over. Wasim’s best bowling figures in a Test match are 11 for 110 and he has five ten-wicket hauls in his name.
The legendary pacer though lacked the blistering pace in his bowling but he was more than capable of taking apart any world class batting line-up. He was known for regularly finding the outside edge of the bat as most of his victims were caught behind.
Akram led Pakistan in 25 Tests matches with a win-loss ratio of 12 to 8 while five matches were drawn. He also captained the Pakistani side in 109 One Day Internationals. Out of 109 ODIs, Pakistan won 66 and lost 41 while two games finished without reaching a result.
He also played for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/John-Wakefield-Holder-c68885 & Hedges Cup, ECB trophy and county championships. He was the captain of Lancashire when they won the Axa League and ECB trophy and finished the championship tournament as runners up.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 had an exceptional capability of modifying both his pace and delivery according to the batsman as well as the pitch conditions. He was famous for delivering full length yorkers in the depth overs which made him the best bowler to roll over the lower order of a batting line up.
The pace bowling legend was diagnosed diabetic at the peak of his cricketing career but the pacer did not get distract by the disease and continued producing stellar cricketing performances. Since then he has been actively involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
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