Pace. Swing. Accuracy. Consistency. We can go on telling all the attributes of a great fast bowler, and Wasim Akram can go on being the best exponent of them all.
Despite bidding adieu to international cricket 17 years ago, he’s still considered one of the greatest fast-bowlers to have graced the sport.
With 414 Test wickets and 502 ODI wickets, there isn’t a single batsman he didn’t intimidate during his times.
As the legend is celebrating his 54th birthday we at CricIndeed will revisit some of the most iconic records set by the ‘Sultan of Swing’:
#1 Most Wickets In List-A Cricket
Wasim Akram has 881 wickets in List-A cricket, which is the most by any bowler. South Africa’s Alan Donald, who sits second in the list, has 197 wickets less than Akram.
Even in ODI cricket, he’s second only to Sri Lankan wizard Muttiah Muralitharan (534) in terms of wickets. In fact, he was the first-ever bowler to cross the 500-wickets milestone in One Day Internationals. Wasim is also the first bowler to complete 400 wickets in both forms of international cricket.
| Player | Wickets | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Wasim Akram | 881 | 21.91 |
| Alan Donald | 684 | 21.84 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan | 682 | 22.39 |
| John Lever | 674 | 19.70 |
| Waqar Younis | 674 | 22.36 |
#2 Highest Test Score Batting at No.8
Considering his absolute mastery with the ball in hand, people tend to underestimate how capable Akram was as a lower-order batsman. His most celebrated batting performance came in October 1996 when he scored a jaw-dropping 257* while batting at no.8 and hence, creating the record.
Highest Scores at Each Batting Position in Test
| Position/No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opener | Matthew Hayden – 380 | Leonard Hutton – 364 | Sanath Jayasuriya – 340 | Hanif Mohammad – 337 | David Warner – 335* |
| No. 3 | Brian Lara – 400* | Brian Lara – 375 | Wiaan Mulder – 367* | Garry Sobers – 365* | Wally Hammond – 336* |
| No. 4 | Mahela Jayawardene – 374 | Inzamam-ul-Haq – 329 | Bob Cowper – 307 | Martin Crowe – 299 | Ross Taylor – 290 |
| No. 5 | Michael Clarke – 329* | Don Bradman – 304 | Karun Nair – 303* | Brendon McCullum – 302 | Tip Foster – 287 |
| No. 6 | Ben Stokes – 258 | Doug Walters – 250 | Don Bradman – 234 | MS Dhoni – 224 | AB de Villiers – 217* |
| No. 7 | Don Bradman – 270 | Denis Atkinson – 219 | Adam Gilchrist – 204* | Jack Ryder – 201* | Brendon McCullum – 185 |
| No. 8 | Wasim Akram – 257* | Imtiaz Ahmed – 209 | Jason Holder – 202* | Kamran Akmal – 154 | Mahmudullah – 150* |
| No. 9 | Ian Smith – 173 | Stuart Broad – 169 | Clem Hill – 160 | Asif Iqbal – 146 | Daniel Vettori – 137* |
| No. 10 | Walter Read – 117 | Abul Hasan – 113 | Pat Symcox – 108 | Reggie Duff – 104 | Sarfraz Nawaz – 90 |
| No. 11 | Ashton Agar – 98 | Tino Best – 95 | James Anderson – 81 | Zaheer Khan – 75 | Richard Collinge – 68* |
#3 Most Sixes in a Test Innings
The match against Zimbabwe in 1996, when he scored the highest score by any No.8 batsman in Tests, of 257*, Akram cleared the ropes 12 times – the highest in any individual Test innings. 4 other batsmen have struck 11 sixes in an innings lagging behind him in the list.
In this match, he also set the record for scoring the highest Test score by a Pakistani captain, which was later broken by Younis Khan (313) in 2009. 257* is also the highest score by a bowler with over 300 Test wickets.
| PLAYER | NO. OF SIXES | RUNS SCORED | AGAINST | VENUE | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 12 | 257* | Zimbabwe | Sheikhupura | 1996 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal (IND) | 12 | 214* | England | Rajkot | 2024 |
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 11 | 380 | Zimbabwe | Perth | 2003 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 11 | 258 | South Africa | Cape Town | 2016 |
| Kusal Mendis (SL) | 11 | 245 | Ireland | Galle | 2023 |
| Nathan Astle (NZ) | 11 | 222 | England | Christchurch | 2002 |
| Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 11 | 202 | Pakistan | Sharjah | 2014 |
| Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 11 | 195 | Sri Lanka | Christchurch | 2014 |
| Wally Hammond (ENG) | 10 | 336* | New Zealand | Auckland | 1933 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 9 | 333 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 2010 |
| Inzamam Ul Haq (PAK) | 9 | 329 | New Zealand | Lahore | 2002 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 9 | 155 | Australia | London | 2023 |
| Chris Cairns (NZ) | 9 | 120 | Zimbabwe | Auckland | 1996 |
| Shimron Hetmyer (WI) | 9 | 93 | Bangladesh | Mirpur | 2018 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 9 | 77* | England | Napier | 2008 |
#4 Second Most ODI Wickets at a Single Ground
Akram was holding the record for taking the most number of wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), until Shakib Al Hasan beat him by picking his 123rd wicket at Dhaka. However, Akram is the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks third overall with 114 wickets.
Wasim and Waqar also leads the chart for the Most bowled wickets in ODI.
Most ODI Wickets at a Single Venue
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 89 | 131 | 24.19 | Shere Bangla National Stadium |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 77 | 122 | 19.50 | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
| Waqar Younis (PAK) | 61 | 114 | 20.17 | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
| Mashrafe Mortaza (BAN) | 64 | 94 | 23.80 | Shere Bangla National Stadium |
| Muthiah Muralidaran (SL) | 45 | 82 | 17.73 | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
| Muthiah Muralidaran (SL) | 57 | 75 | 26.33 | R. Premadasa Stadium |
| Abdur Razzak (BAN) | 52 | 75 | 28.02 | Shere Bangla National Stadium |
| Rubel Hossain (BAN) | 49 | 65 | 30.09 | Shere Bangla National Stadium |
| Saqlain Mushtaq (PAK) | 36 | 61 | 21.85 | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 71 | 60 | 32.70 | R. Premadasa Stadium |
#5 Most ODI Wickets as a Captain
Wasim Akram has 158 wickets to his name as an ODI captain of Pakistan, which is the most by anyone. He’s pursued by the Proteas all-rounder Shaun Pollock in the list.
Talking about other records of Akram, he’s also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Akram, in total, has claimed two hat tricks in both ODIs and Tests – a total of 4, the maximum by any International bowler.
Most ODI Wickets as Captain
| PLAYER | INNINGS | RUNS CONCEDED | WICKETS | BEST BOWLING | AVERAGE | ECONOMY | STRIKE RATE | 4-FORS | 5-FORS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 108 | 3576 | 158 | 5/15 | 22.63 | 3.89 | 34.8 | 9 | 2 |
| Shaun Pollock (SA) | 96 | 3153 | 134 | 5/37 | 23.52 | 3.76 | 37.4 | 5 | 1 |
| Imran Khan (PAK) | 117 | 3801 | 131 | 4/27 | 29.01 | 4.1 | 42.3 | 3 | 0 |
| Mashrafe Mortaza (BAN) | 88 | 3657 | 102 | 4/29 | 35.85 | 5.14 | 41.7 | 2 | 0 |
| Jason Holder (WI) | 82 | 3720 | 101 | 5/27 | 36.83 | 5.66 | 39 | 3 | 2 |
| Waqar Younis (PAK) | 60 | 2357 | 97 | 7/36 | 24.29 | 5.07 | 28.7 | 2 | 3 |
| Daniel Vettori (NZ) | 77 | 2530 | 95 | 5/7 | 26.63 | 3.81 | 41.9 | 1 | 1 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 106 | 3374 | 92 | 5/28 | 36.67 | 4.69 | 46.8 | 2 | 1 |
| Kapil Dev (IND) | 73 | 2388 | 91 | 5/43 | 26.24 | 3.7 | 42.4 | 1 | 1 |
| Heath Streak (ZIM) | 67 | 2601 | 89 | 4/8 | 29.22 | 4.61 | 38 | 3 | 0 |
