Wasim Akram rates Sachin Tendulkar and other great batsmen he bowled against

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is regarded as one of the finest left-arm pacers to have ever played the game. He has had duals against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Martin Crowe, Steve Waugh, and many more, making him one the best judges to pick the finest batsmen of the modern era.

The Pakistan pacer reserved high-praise for West Indies’ Brain Lara, India’s Sachin Tendulkar, Australia’s Ricky Ponting but stated that New Zealand’s Martin Crowe will always find a mention in his list of greats. He also stated his reasons for rating them so highly.

Wasim Akram heaps praise on his former competitors

“No doubt Sachin is one of the greatest of all time. My Indian fans sometimes get frustrated when I give them my reasons (of a different judgment). I played my first Test match against Sachin in 1989 then I played against him in 99. So I didn’t play Test cricket against him for 10 years so it is a bit difficult to judge him as a bowler but as a player, he is one of the greats of the game,” Wasim told former Pakistan cricketer Tanveer Ahmed in a YouTube interview.

Coming to Brain Lara, he had some great words for the West Indian legend because of his ability to play shots out of nowhere. “Take Brian Lara for instance. He used to score against us with that high backlift. He was a very different batsman. I’ve played a lot against Lara,” he revealed.

The Sultan of Swing, who played 22 matches against former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, said the right-hander did not start well but later on turned out to be one of the greats of the game. “I used to get Ricky Ponting out at the start of his career but he, later on, turned out to be one of the greats of the game,” added Akram.

Akram gave a special mention to Martin Crowe for the New Zealander’s ability to play reverse swing. “Why I like Marin Crowe is there was a series in which Crowe scored two centuries against us. So I asked him how did play us? He said ‘ played both of you (Wasim and Waqar) on the front foot and for the inswing. The outside automatically used to go past the outside edge. Outswing will trouble you when you go to chase the ball.,” revealed the Pakistan legend.

Here’s the video: