There’s a famous saying in Delhi’s local cricketing circuit: Har jawaan left-arm pacer khud ko Akram samajhta hai (every young left-arm pacer sees himself as Wasim Akram. It is not said to demean the bowler in any way, but rather as a tribute to the man widely regarded as the greatest left-arm fast bowler of all time. Wasim Akram was many things: an all-rounder, a captain and a handy lower-order batter who once scored 257, his highest Test score. But what he achieved with the ball remains unmatched, even 23 years after his retirement. With 502 ODI wickets, he still holds the record for being the pacer with most wickets in the format, second overall after Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan. Perhaps, after Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, Akram remains Pakistan’s third-finest cricketer of all time.
So, when a young left-arm pacer from India wreaked havoc in Australia and Pakistan in 2003, it was believed that he was going to play forever. His start was euphoric. Making his Test debut in Sydney, he dismissed Steve Waugh before getting Adam Gilchrist with a reverse-swinging yorker. In the ODI tri-series, he picked up 16 wickets from 10 matches and later, when he toured Pakistan, grabbed eight from three. With Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra already established, Irfan Pathan’s rise gave India their own version of Wasim Akram. He had a similar action, was quick and, most importantly, could make the ball reverse.
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Pathan picked Akram’s brain and went on to become India’s new-ball bowler for several years, but his career floundered due to injuries and the emergence of a new generation of Indian pacers. The man who won the Player of the Match award in India’s T20 World Cup final victory over Pakistan announced his retirement in 2020, but his foray into broadcasting and presence on social media have continued to generate buzz. Pathan, in fact, is one of the most vocal former Indian cricketers.
When Pathan first met Akram
Recalling the time he first spoke to Pathan and passed on a few tips, Akram mentioned that the former India all-rounder is active on X (formerly Twitter) and makes a point of expressing exactly how he feels, especially when it comes to Pakistan.
“Irfan met me in 2004 on his first tour to Australia, I was commentating for ESPNStar. He was a big fan. Grew up watching us. I gave him a few tips here and there but he did well early on in his career. His action was similar to mine from the very beginning. But when players ask you about something, what you tell them is mostly about the mindset. Action and all is fine, because at that stage, you have reached that level where you’re representing the country. Things like wrist position and how to suss out a batsman. When to use variations, when not to. So yeah, it was good fun. Irfan is a good boy; he still keeps meeting me. It’s a different thing that he keeps tweeting some or the other thing against Pakistan. But we are ready to reply as well.” Akram said on the 1 Mint podcast.
‘India vs Pakistan is just a game’
Akram knows the hype surrounding an India-Pakistan match better than most. He has been part of many unforgettable battles, but, as someone who has repeatedly stressed that it should simply be treated as a game, Akram reiterated his point. The noise around an India-Pakistan game today is as big as it was in the 1990s, largely driven by social media. But Akram reminded everyone once again that at the end of the day, it’s only a cricket match.
“People have too much time. Why can’t they understand? It’s only a frikkin game. At the end of the day, it’s just a match. Somebody has to win, somebody has to lose. And move on to the next one. But no, what happened many moons ago still lingers. Revenge and all is so 1970. It’s the classic ‘en empty mind is a devil’s workshop, thought process,” he said.