Wasim Akram: A Tribute

this person is a legend on the expense of many other talents, he either destroyed them or by his politics made their carrier end, togather with majid khan and simmilar minions. by the damage this man has done to Pak cricket, his acheievements have no value.

Wasim has certainly been a great bowler for Pakistan, but I do think he was involved in match-fixing. I also believe he on purpose, didn`t play the 96 world cup India-Pakistan match and was paid later. But you can`t deny that he is a maestro with a ball. A great influence on youngsters in both India, Pakistan and perhaps on youngsters in most cricket playing countries. Waqar was and still is awesome. I hope he returns. Remember Ws.

It was indeed Miandad who discovered him. Miandad was also the one who recommended that he be picked for the 84/85 tour to New Zealand, where Wasim made his first impression. It was Imran from whom Wasim learnt the art of reverse swing and politics, both of which he applied with great skill and passion throughout the last 15 years.
I grew up idolising Wasim Akram, the best left arm fast bowler ever to have played the game. I do not, however, share the heartwarming sympathy displayed for him in these pages. He played havoc with the sport of cricket, Pakistani cricket fans, and many promising young cricketers (not unlike his mentor, Imran) playing internal politics. I have no sympathy when he becomes a victim of a welcome house cleaning of a corrupt bunch by the board.

I wish he changed his decision, and come back.....cricket is not the same, and definitley lesser fun to watch without him playing on our side

A kot of you have diverged from talking about Wasim. I feel that words are not adequate to describe the greatness of this bowler. Don Bradman called him the best left arm fast bowler ever and batsmen the world over were afraid of his deadly ability to bowl six different deliveries in the span of one over. He had the uncanny ability to detect the weakness of any batsman within the first two to three deliveries he bowled to that person.

Wasim was a king in his own right. Despite all the negative things that may have come through regarding him, teh positives are much much more and he has done a great service to Pakistan and brought many laurels for the country and that too often single handedly.

Wasims absence will be dearly felt and i doubt that Pakistan will ever find a replacement for him.

I for one salute Wasim Akram for all that he has done for my country and wish him the very best.

Talking about politics in Pakistani cricket Tauqir Zia`s son Junaid is now in the starting eleven. His bowling figures in the first one day at Multan:

Junaid Zia : 7 overs 0 mdns 35 runs 0 wickets (1nb, 5w).

When Amer Sohail was asked why Junaid Zia was chosen over more qualified people he said:

``It doesn`t matter for us whether someone is the son of a general or a poor one,`` Sohail told the BBC Urdu Service.

``For us, the criteria is his ability to play cricket.``
Junaid was in the Pakistan Academy squad which visited South Africa recently.
He took only two wickets in the two one-day matches and seven wickets in two 4-day matches.
But the selectors preferred Junaid over another youngster Fahad Masud, who had claimed nine wickets in two one-day internationals and eight wickets in two 4-day matches.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/3094792.stm

This is the new bright future of Pakistani Cricket!!!!!! This what they got for Wasim and Waqar.

Faisaluno #17,

No need to pay back in kind (or cash for that matter). I truly have the highest
respect for Wasim as a bowler. Ashish Nehra seems to have an almost fawning
admiration for him as well. I think Indian Board should pay oodles of money to get
Akram as a bowling coach (I am dead serious about this) to groom Nehra and
Zaheer - otherwise they will forever be stuck in the Srinath category.

Gavaskar was perhaps more gutsy and technically correct that Sachin. However,
I am yet to see another batsman who can demolish a bowling on his day like
Tendulkar (Viv Richards is the only one I can think of). Sachin`s natural talents
are abundant, but Gavaskar perhaps applied his more judiciously.

faisalsuno:

:) :)

he is so natural but!

Naqshbandi saheb,
how can you appreciate a kafir game like cricket which was never played in the lanes and bylanes of mecca or madina, neither have i found any sunnat recommending this kafirana game for the muslims. infact one sura ( dont know which) tells muslims not to be involved in betting and wasting time on useless pastime....and as you know betting is the greatest game played within the game of cricket and wasim,waqar,mushtaq,saeed,azhar,inzi and hansie,etc were great exponants of the game within the game.....moreover, wearing those tight trousers is absolutely un-islamic and rubbing of the redball on the hips and the groin area is tauba, tauba so obscene.......if i was a girl, i would die of sharam, watching these perverts doing those things with the ball ;))

thanks faisal.

anyway guys.. I am allways surprised to see kind of politics going on over the years in Pakistan cricket. I think I might able to understand every damm thing out there in this world except PCB politics. anybody could come in, anybody could go out anytime. Where is Mr. Moin khan nowadays? any idea? in between i was surprised to see Rashid Latif made captian when he was not in the team for long plus when he had allready taken retirement i guess, if i m not mistaken. Anyway, Saeed anwar was another fantastic player and was allways a treat to watch. I guess being indian I should be happy on his retirement as he has allways kept his best performance reserved against india. I remember he has scored 8 or 9 centuries again india and 6 or 7 of them in Sharjah itself. But i will allways miss his batting which was treat to watch.

rozaiba .. Navjyot sidhhu has a great command on English, plus he has humorous brain. But that doesnt make him good commentrator. He is allways biased to to his own country and i guess when you are commentring, best commentrator keep that thing away. He is just entertainer not a good commentrator.

faisal i agree with you 100% about saeed anwar.

i have often thought that since busharraf became PM he wouldn`t tolerate such a high profile pakistani cricketer being seen with a turban and beard and preaching about islam. sad really. but that`s all you can expect from a slave really. and he obviously transferred the order to tauqir zia. hence exit saeed bhai. :-(

viv richards described him as the best one day batsman he has ever seen.

there was an interesting article about how the pakistani team are becoming increasingly religious in the friday times, last week i think it was. it mentioned saeed, waqar, mushtaq ahmad and 1 other attending tablighi jamaat gatherings. also inzi is supposed to be religious. i am not a tablighi btw.

i think that whether a person is religious or not it shouldn`t matter- when picking a team-cricketers should be picked on their ability only.

some time ago there was the most pathetic discussion on prime tv about whether it was important for pakistani cricketers to be able to speak english! a member of the army who was involved in the team ws saying how only those cricketers who can speak english should be picked as it reflects badly if they can`t! I felt like ringing in to abuse him! WHAT a slave mentality! no wonder our cricket (and our country) is in such a mess!

naqshbandi:

the biggest injustice -- and i am surprised that you have not picked this -- has been done to saeed anwar, the most talented batsman pakistan has ever produced. just remind you, saeed was dropped after scoring a century in the biggest match a pakistani can can ever play i.e. against india in the world cup. and the reason for him being dropped and this is strictly my personal opinion might have something to do with his new found religious conviction and the impact his beliefs would have on the team. otoh, he might have been dropped because of politics. still, decisions such as this one and the selection of tauqir zia`a son in the one day team makes me ashamed of my country. tauqir zia`s a$$ needs to be whipped at a public square cause this is the only way our elites will learn to be just. and apologies if i sound a tad harsh but i am a big supporter of paki team, one of the main reasons being that cricket is the only great equalizer in pak meaning it is the only field where our poor citizens have an equal opportunity to compete with us rich folks. and poor people can be successful. just read umer gul`s profile on bbc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/3086674.stm

Gul`s is a story is one of rags to riches.

Born into a poor family, his home town of Nawae-Kali is better known for producing world-class squash players like Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan and Qamar Zaman.

``Gul is a hard worker.His father couldn`t afford a kit yet he fulfilled his childhood dreams of making a name in cricket,`` said Zaman.

rozaiba:

i think sidhu`s commentary is an acquired taste sort of like eating karelas or salan wali machli. i find all these three items hard to swallow but i am willing to tolerate with the fact other people digest these items with relish.

faisal: you are welcome; actually i enjoy writing about cricket so it was a pleasure. i think i was angry when i heard the way wasim akram was treated by the PCB and how such a great cricketer`s end came and so i wrote this as a tribute then!

i am going to write one about waqar younis too--who is my favourite all time cricketer; the way he has been dropped is even more tragic. :-(

i think pakistani cricket is full of too much politics..

Wasim Akram was and is the greatest bowler ever. What I like about him is that from a run-up of few yards the man was able to generate tremendous pace and swing. Compare his run up to Shoaib or Waqar and its almost unbelievable that he was generating that amount of pace. He seldom disappointed when he played and he played to win. It was a joy to watch him bowl. I for one can not imagine Pakistan without Wasim. He was Pakistan cricket for the last ten years.

faisalsuno:

I think you have never heard Navjot Sidhu as a commentator.

If you listen to him, you will be left speechless. He is the most remarkable cricket commentator the world has ever produced. And you may think I can` t be serious saying that. But I am.

No one gives such brutal analysis on live T.V. No one.