We all know how good of a player Wasim was during his cricketing days. One of the greatest bowlers of his generation and some say he was the greatest left-arm fast bowler in the history of cricket. The Sultan of swing, the king of reverse swing, and the hero of the 1992 world cup final, Wasim Akram was a trademark fast bowler throughout his career. He produced a lot of magical spells of bowling for his country that put Pakistan in the driving seat. But was he as good of a captain as he was as a player? Who was the best captain for Pakistan? Who is the most successful captain of Pakistan cricket? Well, this article contains all the information on Wasim Akram Captaincy record.
Wasim Akram Captaincy Record in Test
Wasim Akram took over the test captaincy from Javed Miandad. This was a difficult time for Pakistan as their permanent captain Imran had retired the previous year, so the captaincy was given to Wasim Akram in Test matches in 1993. He had a difficult start to his captaincy tenure.
- Wasim captained Pakistan in 25 tests. Out of them, 12 were won by Pakistan while 8 ended in defeat. 5 had no result.
- Pakistan’s first series win with Wasim as captain came in 1996 against New Zealand.
- Pakistan lost its first series against the West Indies. It was 3 match series in which Pakistan lost 2 while one game was drawn.
- Pakistan’s next series was against Zimbabwe. Pakistan won a game while one match ended in a draw.
- The next series was against Australia. Pakistan won a test match in the series but still lost the series 2-1.
- Pakistan reached its highest landmark during Wasim’s time when it won a series against England in England in 1996.
- Wasim was known as a very aggressive and confrontational captain on the field.
Wasim Akram Captaincy Record in ODI
Wasim Akram captaincy record in ODI is second to only the great Imran Khan. He was made the captain after Khan’s retirement and he did not disappoint. Often the player’s performance goes down when the burden of captaincy falls on his shoulders. But Wasim, known in the field to be aggressive, gave his best year in bowling in 1993. He took 46 wickets in the year with an average of less than 19.
- He was the captain of the Pakistani side from 1993 till 2000.
- During his tenure, Pakistan played 109 matches. 66 of them were won by Pakistan, while it lost 41, and two were tired.
- He had a win percentage of 61%, which is only topped by Imran Khan till now.
- His career was often tainted by various allegations and controversies
- In the 1993 tour of the West Indies, He along with Waqar Younis and Aqib Javed were caught with the possession of marijuana.
- He led the Pakistani team into the 1999 world cup. Pakistan lost that game and consequently, Pakistani team was accused of spot-fixing because of the nature of which Pakistan lost the game. However, none of the allegations were proven.
- He was dropped from the quarter-finals in 1996 against India which Pakistan lost. Thus he was beaten by a mob again.
Wasim Akram Captaincy Record at Home
Every team is looking to play at home. Home conditions give a team advantage over the visiting side. One has played a lot of domestic cricket at home, so he knows exactly the conditions under which they will play. Wasim Akram also captained many series at home. How did he fare? Let’s have a look
- He captained 17 ODIs at the home venue and won 13 out of them, while four of them ended in defeat.
- He played a total of 4 test series at home, never lost a home test series. Pakistan whitewashed West Indies when they visited in 1997-1998.
- In his other three-test series, all of them ended in a draw, with the home and away sides winning one match a piece
Source : Cricinfo
Wasim Akram Captaincy Record Away
Wasim Akram, like all captains, found it challenging to get results away from home. Going into SENA nations and getting results have always been a difficult task. His record away from home includes
- He played a total of 30 ODIs away from home as captain. Pakistan won 17 of these ODIs while losing 13 of them
- He played six test series away from home.
- His most famous test series win was in England in 1996.
- He won three series away from home against England, New Zealand, and India a piece.
- Pakistan lost both of its away series against Australia while losing to the West Indies.
Thus, one can say that he had an excellent record playing away from home in the shorter format of the game.
Wasim Akram Captaincy Record at a Neutral Venue
Wasim captained a major chunk of his ODIs at a neutral venue, as Pakistan played a lot of Cricket in UAE in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
- Wasim Akram captained 62 matches away from home at a neutral venue. Pakistan won 36 of these and Twenty-six of them ended in defeat.
Conclusion:
Although a bit more controversial than his predecessors, Wasim took the captaincy of the Pakistani team at a difficult time when the team was in a rebuilding phase after Khan’s departure. He did very well on the ground both with the bat and with work. His best figures and year came when he was the captain of the Pakistani team, which showed that this additional responsibility had no effect on him. He is the second most successful captain of cricket in Pakistan after the great Imran Khan. Can Babar Azam break the captaincy record of Imran Khan and Wasim Akram?
