Wasim Akram proud to be at Sharjah book fair
LEGENDARY CRICKETER FROM PAKISTAN REGALES AUDIENCE WITH TALES OF HIS EXPLOITS
Imran once told me that if you have talent, it will last three to four years. But the hard work you put into your talent will prolong your career. I did exactly that and ended up playing for 20 years for Pakistan ...” Wasim Akram | Pakistani cricketer and commentator
P akistan’s legendary pacer Wasim Akram, popularly called the ‘Sultan of Swing’, got his fans to sway to his cricketing career tales at the Sharjah International Book Fair on Thursday.
From incidents like when he asked his captain Javed Miandad how much money he needed to carry with him for his debut tour to New Zealand since he wasn’t aware that he would be paid as a player, to how his idol, Imran Khan, caught him escaping to the washroom after not following his instructions and getting out, enthralled the packed ballroom crowd.
Speaking to Gulf News about his love for reading books and how that habit helped him become a commentator and convey his ideas as a coach, he said: “Reading helps you become a confident man. It helps you increase your vocabulary and not mumble while speaking. If you are confident, it will show in the sport you play, be it bowling, batting or leading a side. It also creates awareness to figure out what is wrong and right.”
He went on to narrate how, as a kid, he used to rent books for 25 paise a day: “There was a small bookshop near my grandmother’s house in Lahore. I developed the habit of reading from my brother Nadeem, who reads a lot. I was only 11 and most books were in Urdu. Even if I was not able to return a book in 24 hours, Bhatt Saheb [Sir], the shop owner, never charged me extra. Today I feel good that in Sharjah, where I have had many good performances as a cricketer, I am in a different role, at the biggest book fair in the world, after Frankfurt and London.”
Before facing the huge audience for an interactive session, when Gulf News asked him who among the present cricketers would he love to bowl to, Akram said: “I would definitely have loved to bowl to Virat Kohli because it would be so much fun. Kohli is very aggressive and if somebody is aggressive, I always think I have a chance to get him.
“If you bowl at a solid player like Rahul Dravid, you might not get a chance. Kohli might hammer you, but you could still have a chance to get his wicket. Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t that aggressive, especially in Test cricket; he picked his bowlers and picked his situations. Kohli with 32 one-day hundreds is definitely the player of the new era. India has a gem in Kohli.”
Akram also narrated some little-known tales from his career. “I got picked to play for Pakistan after I bowled brilliantly to the great Javed Miandad who came to the nets of a coaching camp that I attended. One of the selectors saw me bowl well and picked me for a first-class game against New Zealand. In my debut first-class game, I took seven wickets for 50 runs and two wickets in the second innings, for a ninewicket haul. Then I got picked for the New Zealand tour.
‘Short on cash’
“That was when I asked my captain Miandad as to how much money I should be taking with me for the tour. Miandad replied, ‘Rs100,000’. That, to me, in 1984 was a lot of money. When I told him I would not be able to come as my dad would not give me that much money, he started laughing. Frankly, I never knew players get paid for playing cricket and that too for the country!”
For Akram, Khan was always his idol, but he said he was a hard task master too. “In 1986, at Sialkot, while playing against Sri Lanka, I was the 11th batsman, and before going out to bat, Imran told me not to play a rash shot. But I went for a slog sweep and got bowled first ball. While walking back to the dressing room, I wanted to hide from my captain, so I went straight to the washroom and started to remove my pads there. Imran opened the door, grabbed me by my ear asking, ‘Whom are you fooling?’. But with time, I went on to become an all-rounder.”
Akram is obliged for life to a piece of advice from Imran. “Imran once told me that if you have talent, it will last three to four years. But the hard work you put into your talent will prolong your career. I did exactly that and ended up playing for 20 years for Pakistan, and 10 years in between for Lancashire, enjoying every bit of it.”
The audience, a mix of nationalities from the subcontinent, cheered Akram when he praised Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. “Sangakkara is one of modern cricket’s greats. He still gets runs at the age of 40. Recently, I asked him how he motivates himself to keep scoring runs. His response was that you can do it as long as you enjoy playing.”
About Bangladesh, he said: “When I see Bangladesh play now, I get goose bumps. They are hammering everyone. In 1994, when I went to play league cricket there, their favourite sport was football. But when I visited the country four years ago, it was cricket all over the roads and rooftops; and the stadiums are packed. Bangladesh is today a force to reckon with.”
Asked whether he’d feared bowling to any batsman, he said: “It’s difficult to pick one since I have bowled to some of the greats like Sir Viv Richards, the great Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border, Graham Gooch, Ian Botham and Alec Stewart. But my prize wicket will remain Sunil Gavaskar, one of the greatest openers.”
Akram also spoke of the importance of India-Pakistan matches and the pressures that players face. “It is unfortunate that politics is preventing IndiaPakistan matches. How will the relationship between the two countries improve without people-to-people contact? If India and Pakistan play cricket, we will have a lot more youngsters getting motivated. For me, playing against India was the ultimate. The pressure on and off the field was special.”