The West Indies tour of Pakistan in 1986 was thought to be an even contest despite the fact that the Windies were the best team at the era. The Pakistanis though were considered to be serious challengers in this series.
The crucial first test was held at Faisalabad. Pakistan batted first and collapsed posting all of 159 runs. At this stage, it was expected that the West Indies would score heavily and take a substantial first-innings lead. The Pakistani left-arm speedster Wasim Akram, only in his second year of international cricket, was spearheading the bowling attack. And he had different plans.
Akram had the great Gordon Greenidge leg before wicket when he was just on 10. The fast bowler then produced three identical balls to rattle the West Indian middle order by having Roger Harper, Malcolm Marshall and the great Viv Richards caught behind.
Akram then bowled another spell to clean the tail. In 25 overs, Akram had demonstrated that he could make an impact on the entire batting order of the Windies. In spite of Akram’s superb effort, the West Indies still managed to get a hundred-run lead in the game. Things looked even bleak for Pakistan when Javed Miandad and Imran Khan fell cheaply with the team needing runs to put pressure on the West Indies in the last innings. It was Akram again who rose to the occasion making a quickfire 66 in 82 balls. He was the last man out and took his team to a total of 328. The West Indies collapsed in their fourth innings for just 53 runs.
Only in his second year of international cricket, Akram helped his team win a test match with both the bat and ball. It is often overlooked that throughout his career, Akram’s runs were as crucial as the wickets he took.
Batting for match-saving cause
A few years later in 1987, when Wasim was still relatively young in tests, he played a significant inning with the bat against England in Leeds. He hit more than 40 runs in less than a run a ball to help his team take a significant first innings lead. On a wicket where the English team were bundled out for just 136 runs, Akram hit 4 sixes with a strike rate of over a hundred. As a result, Pakistan won by an inning and 18 runs. In the same year, Akram scored another 40 runs against England at a strike rate close to a hundred.
England was all out for 175 and Pakistan won by an innings and 87 runs.
The third test at Faisalabad in 1992 between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is now forgotten but it was one of the most interesting and close encounters the two teams ever played. Pakistan was in real trouble chasing 185 to win in the fourth innings. Javed Miandad, Salim Malik and Imran Khan were out for a combined total of 6 runs and when Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Ratnayake clean bowled out Hanif Mohammad’s talented son Shoaib, it seemed all over for Pakistan. Akram hit a gritty half-century to ensure Pakistan won by 3 wickets. He curbed his natural stroke play and played a responsible test knock in sync with the match situation. The same year, he played a crucial cameo in the second test against England at the Lord’s. In a low-scoring match, he hit 24 runs in the first innings to help Pakistan take a slender lead. In the second innings, Pakistan was all at sea with three of its middle-order batters gone for duck.
Things turned from bad to worse when Inzamam-ul-Haq ran himself out at the worst possible stage of the innings. Pakistan was all set to lose the match when Akram once again held his ground with the bat. He scored a match-winning 45 and remained not out. Pakistan won the match by 2 wickets. In a test match at Auckland in 1994 against the Kiwis, Wasim scored a crucial 35 runs to ensure that Pakistan didn’t concede a huge first-innings lead. The adrenaline rush achieved with the bat often led to Akram being fired up with the ball. The Kiwis had no answer to his bowling and he took 6 wickets to finish the match in favour of his team.
The Australia tour of Pakistan in 1994 was a mouth-watering contest. Both teams had match-winning cricketers. The first test at Karachi showed who was the biggest match winner. Akram scored 39 precious runs when his team needed them the most. Once again, his bat ensured that Pakistan did not concede a huge first innings lead. He then rolled his arm over to take 5 wickets and Pakistan won the match by 1 wicket.
Akram’s finest moment with the bat came in a match-saving cause. It was in the heritage city of Sheikhupura built by Emperor Jehangir. Once again Akram came in to bat when his team was in trouble, this time in a match against Zimbabwe. They scored 375 runs in the first innings and when it was Pakistan’s turn to chase, the team was 7 down for 237. Akram batted for close to 500 minutes and hit 22 fours and 12 sixes. He remained not out on 257. It is forgotten today that Wasim started this innings when Pakistan had its back against the wall. Few left-arm opening bowlers have scored a double century in test cricket.
Akram has always scored vital runs when his team needed them the most. In the first match of the Asian Test Championship 1999 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, he as the team captain scored crucial 38 runs to ensure that Pakistan remained in the fight. Pakistan eventually won by 46 runs. In a test match at Colombo in 2000, Akram was at the fag end of his playing days when he batted very responsibly to score 78 runs and Pakistan scored another win. He made his last test hundred in 2000, 16 years after he made his debut in test cricket.
Wasim Akram’s knocks range from quick cameos to dour batting efforts, all resulting in his team’s benefit. Not just as a bowler, he was an asset for his country even as a batter—trait of a master allrounder.
Kush Singh @singhkb is founder, The Cricket Curry Tour Company. Views are personal.