My XI
'His ability to swing the ball late was phenomenal'
Part eight: Graham Gooch on his toughest competitors: Wasim Akram was effective both over and round the wicket and was very difficult to read
Producer: Tanveer Gogada
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- Players/Officials : Wasim Akram
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One of the most serious aspects of contention are where Wasim stands in the pantheon of great fast bowlers,cricketers and left-handers.Combing O.D.I'S with tests Wasim would rank 2nd to only Gary Sobers amongst left-handers as a cricketer,just edging Brian Lara.Considering only test cricket Marshall,Lillee,Mcgrath and Hadlee would rank above Wasim having been more consistent and better match-winners.Amongst all cricketers combing one day and test cricket I would rank Wasim amonsgst the 20 greatest.Sad he never did justice to his batting talent which would have made him a great all-rounder.Wasim proved that however incredible is one talent it does not nesseccarily place him at the top amongst cricketers.I wish Wasim could have taken Pakistan to the top as a test -playing nation like Imran Khan did.
If he wished Wasim could have broken all the fast bowling records and possibly bettered Sydney Barnes, or Glen Mcgrath statistically.Although Wasim had more natural prowess,Imran Khan was the greater match-winner playing a major role in shaping his country's most famous victories in matches and series.The same could even be said of Richard Hadlee.However it is still Wasim whose bowling and presence would be a greater menace to the opposition because of his incredible variety and his left handed variation.To start with Wasim loked like shaping into a great all-rounder like Botham .
I feel Wasim was marginally more effective at fast-medium than genuine fast if you remember the delivery that dismissed Rahul Dravid in Chennai in 1999.The ball in and out and perplexed the batsmen.That delivery was like the product of a surgeon,poet and professor merged into one.
To me Wasim lacked the determination of a Mashall,Lillee or Imran which ranked them amongst the top 20 cricketers of all.
Wasim akram made ball talk. I do not think any bowler in the history of game had that much variety and made the ball do its thing without lots of effort. He was a bowling university by himself. If he would have been australian , he would have been bowling bradman. I still think only malcolm marshall is only one come close but most of malcolm carrier he had good team. Akram team went bad late 1990s party due to poor leadership of himself. Some like to be in control of men but akram do not want any part of it. Everyone is free.You can't manage 11 free people.
I don't know which bowlers he's going to choose, but I find it interesting that in his playing career when he would have played either with or against the "big four" allrounders of his generation he's chosen Wasim.
King of swing! No one can make ball to talk better than him. I have never seen before and after a great bowler than him. A true legend of all time.
If Wasim Akram had done justice to his natural ability he would have been the greatest pace bowler of all.Wasim was the equivalent of a Rembrandt or Beethoven to bowling with his depths of creativity.Arguably what went against Wasim was his diabetes that affected his stamina to sustain bowling,infighting within the Pakistani team and having numerous catches dropped by fielders..What made Malcolm Marshall more lethal or arguably even Dennis Lillee was the control ,accuracy and agression they posessed.Blending these 3 qualities to his magical art and technical prowess would have made Wasim like a Don Bradman of pace bowling.
In an all-time xi Wasim would be my first choice as a pace bowler because of his left-arm variations which would enable him to make more crucial breakthroughs and conquer placid tracks more than Glen Mcgrath , Curtly Ambrose or Malcolm Marshall.On flat sub-continent tracks no paceman was ever as innovative.Really surprised how Wasim's best figures were only 7-119.
Wasim Akram took cricketing genius in fast bowling to the highest depth in the history of cricket.No pacemen ever equalled Wasim's creativity who reminded one of a magician.There were quicker ,more technically correct and more accurate fast bowlers but none posessed the repertoire of Wasim or acheived as much mastery on flat wickets. Wasim's mastery of reverse swing posessed the inventive genius of a scientist or sculptor.Overall,to me he was the most complete of fast bowlers blending pace, control,accuracy,bounce, movement and variations in the proportion no paceman ever did..From 1990-98 he overshadowed every other paceman statistically .At his best in 1989-90 at Melbourne taking 11 scalps.
Overall to me Wasim did not do true justice to his ability being statistically overshadowed by greats like Glen Mcgrath,Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose in terms of average ,in capturing wickets of top order batsmen and as a match-winner.Often let down by the fielding side.
Nobody in history of cricket has made the ball to talk as much as Wasim Akram. Batsmen were fortunate Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and others were not as much as magician as Wasim Bhai, otherwise they would tormented batsmen to reach the the end of barell.
Wasim...total legend! One of my favourite bowlers of all time.