Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram - Analysis

He was a victory of the imagination. He broadened the ambit of what could be done in his art with talent and hard work and left fast bowling unrecognisable from what it was before him.
I've to name only one, then it would be undoubtedly Wasim Akram, the undisputed Sultan of Swing.

I heard about Wasim Akram when I was studying 2nd Standard in Trichy through Big fun bubble gum Cricket cards. Though India is Country of Batting Wizards. But the aspiration of a young kids of our age was to be a fast bowler. The main aspiration for me it was Wasim Akram. But it has became a mirage. Though India has produced some Good fast bowler after 2000. Before Millennium the only fast bowler who could touch 140 Kmp's now and then was Srinath. All the Indian Bowlers were either medium fast bowlers or Spinners who had a very long run up. I used to wonder during 2011 World Afridi's Bowling speed was equivalent to some of the Indian fast bowlers.

After hearing the name Wasim Akram I used to watch his vintage matches a lot. Thanks to Star sport's and ESPN at that time. Apart from those things , While playing Cricket card games Wasim Akram's card will come in as handy with the test High score of 257* and Low bowling average and a low Bowling strike rate and total wickets tally By which we easily get anyone's card.

After that I began to watch many matches of Wasim Akram especially the World Series which was held at Australia. He was lanky pacer and didn't attract me during the highlights of those matches.

I began to admire after watching the highlights of 1986 sharjah cup, 1992 World Cup match where his Bowling was a true dominating one. He was the real dark horse behind the Pakistan's Success in 1992 World Cup with both Bat as a pinch hitter and the Ball.

He can be delineated as a ephialtes for the batsman of his era. At his best ,He has complete mastery over swing and seam, and sometimes moves the ball both ways in a single delivery. All this comes at high speed from a quick, ball-concealing action, and is backed up by the threat of a dangerous bouncer or deceptive slower delivery and even a inswinging yorker and a exponent of  "Banana Swing". Banana swing deliveries is how he took his hat tricks. Banana swing is different than other swing deliveries in the context that, in this type of delivery the ball .

In my point of view Scorecard doesn't show the performance of the individual player. It is Cent percent true regarding Wasim Akram. In that series the matches were in Round Robin so Each Team ( India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies) were participated each team has to play against other teams thrice and last match of the series was India Vs Pakistan though already the series was won by West Indies. India and Pakistan fought for the Second place. During the highlights my friends used to say (yaaruda ivan kaatu thanma poduran) which means who is the guy bowling with such vengeance. And Atlast we concluded that He is bowling with such a great pace that is why we can't face him.

But I began to realize the worth of Akram during the India Pakistan series highlights of 1987 -88. The person who has a short run up with the average run up of 140 kmph.
Each pacer has a unique action in bowling the ball. But to generate such a pace they have to run a long run up through which they can generate such a pace. But when considering Wasim Akram, his shoulders are so powerful that he can achieve such a speed with the very short run up. And his wrist is also so effective in his bowling. He will change the swing of the ball with the wrist action.

Most of the balls bowled by Wasim Akram are in Good length middle and off. Such a ball when strikes the pitch at such a pace can't be deciphered by the batsman which Inswing or Outswing. Those Short pitch ball were bounced to height of Batsman's Chest in the Indian pitches. I remember when Krishmachari Srikanth's head was broken by Wasim in such One of the Short pitch balls. The occasional Yorkers which made the batsman to tremble and as on time moves on the reverse swing which comes to play.

During that Indian series the Indian batsman was much irritated against Wasim Akram since they couldn't play him when the ball is old or the ball is new and resulting in the loss of both Test and ODI series against Pakistan.

After that the name and fame of Wasim Akram never deteriorated. Even if Hercules comes and bowls, the balls won't pitch above the knee's of the batsman.  This is condition of the Asian pitches. For a man who bowled in such a pitches. The pitches of England, Australia and New Zealand was like a cakewalk.

When one batsman is playing against us then the captain will have a strategy against the batsman by exploiting his week areas and make a bowler who will manipulate the batsman and most of the time the game will be in control of the batsman. But When Wasim Akram was in his prime form and while bowling in a Rhythm the game was totally in control of a bowler and Ultimately the batsman has to make a plan against the King of Swing.

At the same time in my Point of view I have never seen Wasim Akram making a plan and bowling against a specific batsman. His mindset will be  I will come run and bowl as my mind says and let the ball swing according to the climatic conditions, nature of the pitch and the wear and tear of the ball and let the ball swing accordingly  either Inswing Outswing or Reverse Swing. It is duty of the batsman to play against it. When he bowls he will put the same effort for Sachin , Lara and Steve Waugh at the same time for Srinath , McGrath or Walsh the effort which he puts in bowling is the same.

Just think of it, A well set batsman will suffer for a good length Outswinger or a Inswinging Yorker from Akram what will be the condition of the Tail enders.

In test matches the opening Batsman will come to pitch in the mind set of just passing the Akram's first spell in the morning without losing their wickets. We can expect atleast one appeal each over. But In most of the instances the keepers and the slip fielder's would leave many catches under his bowling especially Moin Khan and Inzimam whenever i see  those sights i feel irritated for him and my friends used to say "yaenda oruthan Uyira koduthu poduraan ivanunga yaenda  ipudi panraanga" means this fellows are making no use of his bowling.

Once during a live match there was an analysis of players who took their first 200 wickets in less number of matches they telecasted  analysis for Waqar Younis in which his first 200 wickets had 85 bowled wickets and 85 LBW with a very less number of catches. Like this if we consider Wasim Akram most of the wickets would comprise of Bowled and LBW alone.

There is reason for the above fact also,  if we take Australia and South African slip fielder's they will standing behind a batsman as a hungry Rajapalayam Dogs who would be waiting for the Bone's they can make a half chance of a catch to a full chance but the Pakistan fielder's are those who will leave the easy catches at a given time. If Pakistan fielding and catching is Good then the number of wickets taken by Wasim would have risen .

89 Nehru Cup, Many Sharjah Cups, 92 World Cup, Many test matches and ODI like that Wasim has won many matches single handedly for Pakistan. After Winning 92 World Cup Imran Khan retired from cricket they Captaincy came to Javed Miandand, Salim Malik , Ramiz Raja and last to Wasim Akram. I cannot say Wasim Akram as a Good Captain when compared as a player. Though During his tenure also Pakistan has won many games but it was also Single Handedly by him or the likes of Inzimam, ijaz and Saeed Anwar. But as a Captain preparing a strategy to demolish a team and winning was not his style.

In that point I would say Imran Khan is a legend in it. He was Like MGR . A lot of myth's was around him such as Akram was selected based on the performance in a college match. Waqar Younis was selected on the basis of his bowling performance against Javed Miandand in a Local match. In the similar way Inzimam was selected on basis of his Batting performance against Wasim Akram and Waqar. His selection was never outshined.

I can compare this one with an incident that took place in Tamilnadu. In dharmapuri when Naxalite was active it was curbed by Walter Devaram. But the plan and strategy was maded by IG Sripal. After that when Walter Devaram became the Chief of the Tamilnadu Police he started the operation for capturing Veerappan but it was eventually failed later under Vijayakumar IPS , Veerappan was Captured but behind Mr. Vijayakumar there was a strong officers who made the plans for him. Such a one was Wasim Akram, He was the Arjuna of Pakistan team. He has a lot of Brahmastram and Nagastram in his pocket but one should use him wisely. Imran Khan used him wisely he promoted his Batting order and He made Wasim Akram as a pinch hitter. I can compare this also with the  same veerappan incident when DGP Vijayakumar took the commander for Action force after his appointment he clearly pictured that the ego clash between SP Senthamarai Kannan and SP Sankar Bidari and they were  the prime reason for the failure of mission which IG Devaram failed to curb. DGP Vijayakumar silently transferred Sankar Bidari resulting Operation Cocoon to a successful mission. That is where Imran khan succeeded ,he knew what to do, when to do And How to do.

Imran used to Gave a four over to bowl then  made Wasim to rest. Whenever Imran feels a Batsman is  uncomfortable he employed Wasim as a strike bowler. But when Wasim was made Captain it couldn't happen, None others than Imran khan couldn't use him to the full potential. That's where Imran khan won as Captain at the same where Akram failed as Captain.

But All thee captain's including the county  captains did the same thing giving the ball to him when the tail enders came Once mustaq ahmed even said in an interview I used to take middle order wickets and the ball would be spinning in my way but as soon as the middle order is exposed the ball will be given to wasim akram

Doing the mid 90's all the active Cricket players had a great respect for Wasim Akram even de Silva told in a interview that his players accepted him as Good player when he hit a six of Wasim Akram.

Not Only Cricket players, those playing Gully Cricket and Those who watch Cricket matches a had a great respect for Wasim Akram. In my Hostel I used to see some of the Ardent Cricket lovers had a Gigantic flow of Wasim Akram and Rahul Dravid in the Era of Sachin. One of Mizo friend used to say now and then How it would been If Akram play's for India such a charisma he had. I used to think if we Indians  are crazy for him then how would  Pakistanis feel about him.

I have enjoyed a lot of things in that a special place goes to Cricket and in which a special spot is there for Wasim Akram especially those 2 wickets of Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in 1992 World Cup final at the right time which goes as following in that match Pakistan put together 249 for 6 on the back of 153 runs in the last 20 overs.

Chasing 250 to win, England were soon on a precarious 69 for 4, but Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother recharged the innings with 72 runs in 14 overs, and Pakistan's hopes diminished with every passing run.

After 34 overs Imran Khan tossed the ball to his understudy, Akram, who was proving to be unplayable under lights with the concoction of prodigious swing and searing pace.
Batting on 31, Lamb prepared to face his first ball from Akram. Round the wicket again, Akram planted the inswinger around off stump just short of length, leaving Lamb in a dilemma of whether to go back or forward. Lamb looked to cover his stumps, but with no footwork. The ball held its line after pitching, Lamb played inside the line, and the off stump was knocked over. He looked back at the stumps, and then at the pitch, seemingly in disbelief. 

In came Chris Lewis, considered a natural stroke-maker. Akram pitched it wider outside off, curving it in beautifully through the air. Lewis took a big stride forward and brought his bat down but wasn't quick enough and dragged the ball on to the middle stump.

Those were the most decisive blows. Akram's performance should be in the context of the situation. A record crowd at the MCG - more than 87,000 strong - had their eyes on Akram, who became only the fourth bowler to bag a Man-of-the-Match award in the 1992 World Cup.

Made Rahul Dravid to dance Kathakali in one.of the test matches, though am a Ardent devotee of Dravid It still wets my eyes it goes as follows Wasim could bowl anything and everything; Mark Taylor observed, in his prodigious days, that Akram could land four balls on the same spot in an over and do four different things with it. The holy grail of left-arm bowling - bringing it in to the right-hander - was his from the start. He could cut it in, out, over and round the wicket, swing it early, late, change pace, length; every kind of ball imaginable he had.

Some were beyond imagination. One remarkable delivery to Rahul Dravid in Chennai, did several things at once. So cruel and wicked was it, on its way to clipping the off bail, the edge of Dravid's bat must have heard a cackle, a subcontinental mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law, "Hah, you thought you had me covered?"

Nehru Cup final over Sixer, The Blitzkrieg at Chepauk Comprising of 5 Boundaries and 5 Sixers of 53*, Those toe crushing Inswinging Yorkers, Special mentioning of the Reverse Swing which he bowls in last over of the ODI's which would be like this is clinical Reverse Swing ball bowled with such precision. Like wise I can list a lot.

Now Even at age of 50 the fitness which he maintains with diabetic complaint is truly amazing.

In the Cricket Fraternity all accepted directly or Indirectly that Wasim Akram is the One of the Greatest Bowler of all time. Nowadays when a cricketer plays well well he is compared with Don Bradman or Sachin Tendulkar. Like wise whenever a Left arm Fast Bowler is performing well he is compared with Wasim Akram for example now Mustifizur Rahim. This is what he has achieved.

Bibliography
- Cricinfo
- Cricbuzz
- Murali Kannan Sir (Maximum Portion has been taken from your blog http://muralikkannan.blogspot.in/2015/09/blog-post_30.html?m=1)
- Quora