অনুগ্রহ করে অপেক্ষা করুন। ছবি আটো ইন্সার্ট হবে।
When a batsman who was the first to score 10,000 runs in test cricket says something like that about a bowler then that pretty much sums up what batsmen used to think about Wasim Akram. He terrorised the batsmen in three different decades right from 80s till 2003. When he started out he was this tall, lanky fast bowler who could bowl real quick. He became the sultan of swing pretty quickly. In his heyday it was practically impossible to play him. Later when he grew old he used all his experience and skill to torment the batsmen. So even when he lost that extra yard of pace because of his variation nobody was able to take him for a ride. He was lucky to get Imran Khan as his captain from whom he learnt pretty much everything there was to be learnt about fast bowling, reading batsman's mind and reverse swing. Did I just say reverse swing ? I guess I did. Wasim took reverse swing to a different level. When the pakistanis first used to do it the rest of the world just could look in disbelief and nod their respective heads. Fast bowlers like to hunt in pairs. And in Waqar Younis he found the perfect ally. Two Ws were in nightmares of innumerable batsmen. If Waqar's toe-crushing yorkers couldnt get the batsmen out then Wasim's reverse swing sure did.
The bowling that Wasim and Waqar did in 1992 tour of England may be the best ever piece of fast bowling. Like any other champion player Wasim rose to the occasion. Being the player of the series in the World Cup triumph of Pakistan speaks volumes about that. Who could forget those two deliveries he bowled to Allan Lamb & Chris Lewis when England was cruising towards the target. Also in 1999 the epic Chennai test which is known for Sachin's Hectorian act of playing his best inning in a losing cause. Wasim was the one who demolished the openers & Dravid with a beauty and made sure Pakistan win that match. He is still most probably the only bowler to have two hat tricks in both odis and tests. He was the first bowler ever to get 500 odi wickets and not to mention got 414 in tests as well. Surely if he was playing in a better fielding side than Pakistan then he would have got atleast 50 wickets more in both tests and odis. It was a regulation that fielders would drop atleast one catch every couple matches of his bowling.
Anyways statistics dont do justice to him. Cause Mcgrath got more wickets than him but ask any batsman who would he like to face Mcgrath or Wasim. And the answer would not please Mcgrath for sure. No batsman ever got better him like Lara took to Muralitharan and Sachin took to Warne. He was the perfect successor to Imran Khan to the Pakistan's cricket throne. And arguably the team that he led in 1999 world cup was Pakistan's best ever. Imagine Saeed Anwar as opener, destructive afridi, Inzi, Yousuf and ijaz in middle order, Azhar Mehmood and Razzaq vying for all-rounder's spot, Moin Khan as keeper, Saqlain at his best, rookie Shoaib, Waqar with experience and the irreplacable Akram himself. It was a pity that they didnt dominate the world for long.
Thank you Wasim Akram for making cricket enjoyable to me. You used to play the way all of us just can dream about.
Feb 21, 2009
সর্বশেষ এডিট : ২২ শে ফেব্রুয়ারি, ২০০৯ ভোর ৫:০২
