Any match between India and Pakistan is a big event whether it is in World Cup or some other tournament. Before the match, there is a lot of buildup whereas players consider this as just another game. The India-Pakistan clashes also make or break careers of many cricketers. India’s legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar recalled one such incident when he identified what Wasim Akram is capable of.
During Aajtak’s ‘Salaam Cricket’ conclave in Dubai, Gavaskar narrated an incident where Akram surprised him with serious pace.
The incident took place during the series in 1985 when Imran Khan was appointed as captain of the Pakistan team and Akram was still new to international cricket.
“Wasim Akram at that time was bowling to me and Pakistan team captain Imran Khan was standing at mid-off. I was on the strike and Wasim bowled a short-pitched delivery. I went to play that ball but it was so short that I decided to leave it at the last second. It went past me and surprised the wicketkeeper too with the speed of the delivery. The ball deflected off the gloves of the wicket-keeper and went to the fielder at deep fine leg,” Gavaskar said.
Not only Gavaskar appreciated the pace and bounce extracted by a young Akram, contrary to popular belief that the players of two teams don’t talk, he walked up to Imran and applauded his talent.
“I took a single and went straight to Imran to tell him that this kid can bowl fast if he wants to,” Gavaskar asked.
Gavaskar imitated Imran and revealed what he said in response, “Yes man, I have been telling him this for so long but he wants to swing the ball.”
The swing king went to play 104 Tests and 356 ODIs for Pakistan. The 55-year-old took 414 wickets in Test matches and 502 wickets in ODIs. He had 25 five-wicket haul In ODIs and six in the longer format of the game.
