Pakistan Cricket Players Biography Wallpapers : Waseem Akram

Waseem Akram Biography

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Wasim Akram born 3 June 1966 is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches.

Wasim Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in cricket history. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of One Day International wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling.
The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted in accusations of ball tampering by cricket critics, although the skill of the reverse swing delivery has now been accepted as a legitimate feature of ability in cricket. Wasim Akram's later career was also tarnished with accusations of match fixing by critics, although these remain unproven.

On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Wasim Akram’s Skills in Cricket

During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of the "Sultan of Swing".

Award and Records

· Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.

· In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average

of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.

· In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52

and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.

· Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms

of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.

Coaching career

In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach for the franchise.^] While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.^. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowler Muhammad Amir.

Cricket controversies

In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.

A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:

This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehmanchanged his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion.