Classic Wasim Akram _ ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 1992

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Relive the magic of one of the greatest fast bowlers in cricket history — Wasim Akram — during the iconic ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 1992. Watch his unforgettable spellbinding performances that led Pakistan to glory. This classic footage showcases Akram’s deadly swing, pinpoint accuracy, and match-winning contributions. A true legend in action!

Transcript

00:00And Wazi Makhram has struck for Pakistan.

00:24Wazi Makhram, in my opinion, was the best left armor that ever raised the earth.

00:28As near as unplayable as he can possibly get.

00:31He had it all, he had that reverse swing, he bowled phenomenally with the new ball, and

00:36he hit the bat so high, so hard, he sort of hit the splice all the time.

00:40And he knew when to sort of rein it in, and when to really go at the bat swing.

00:46Wazi Makhram, very full delivery, he's out, he's out, Andrew Jones is out, LBW a very full

00:54delivery, hitting Jones on the foot.

00:57That's dead, absolutely out.

01:01When you talk about Pakistan's history, he's the best ever.

01:04Some people say, arguably.

01:06So for me, he is one of the best left arm fastballers, because he had everything.

01:11Quick arm action, he could do so much with the new ball, and his bouncer was lethal.

01:17With the older ball, we all know what he could bring on the table.

01:21When you talk about Wazi Makhram, I think he was one of the best cricketers in the world

01:28of cricket ever produced.

01:30I mean, amazing talent.

01:32He was the kind of baller you never want to face.

01:36I was just starting at that time with Pakistan team when he was about to retire.

01:42But nobody liked facing Wazi Makhram, even in the nets when he was running just from two,

01:46three yards.

01:49And how quick he can bowl from there and how quick he was off the pitch.

01:54And the way he just normally swings the ball, even on dry and slow pitches, both ways.

02:02And then with that short run up, even.

02:04Zippy.

02:05That's very well bowled by Wazi Makhram, that in-ducker to the right-hander.

02:16Another Australian wicket goes down, McDermott is gone.

02:20He was ahead of his time.

02:21He would bowl left arm over the wicket, but he also bowled a lot around the wicket.

02:24And not many people did that then.

02:26And then he could get the ball to swing in both directions very quickly.

02:30He ran through the crease, not illegally, but he just skipped through.

02:33He had very light feet.

02:35He seemed to be about 17 yards away when he let go of it.

02:38And he got back as well.

02:39So he is the sort of identikit of the perfect one-day cricketer, World Cup cricketer.

02:45Not a bad test cricketer either.

02:47Do you think Graham Gooch and Ian Botham are going to be looking to dominate

02:51the bowling early on, or is it a question of withstanding the initial onslaught?

02:54Difficult to do that against Akram and Aakib.

02:56Both are very experienced and very, very fine bowlers.

03:01Well in that final, Wazi Makhram got key wickets.

03:04And on his day, he was just about unplayable.

03:07What a great delivery left arm around the wicket.

03:11Alan Lamb has been cleaned up.

03:13Perhaps so too England.

03:15Beautifully bowled by Wazi Makhram.

03:18We always knew that Wasim has the ability to deliver at the right time.

03:22And that's how Pakistan cricket was based on.

03:25Other ballers, they were used to do the holding job.

03:28When we had the top order batsmen back in the pavilion, there was a partnership going on

03:33between Alan Lamb and Faye brother.

03:37And all the bowlers, they were asked to just do the holding job.

03:41Try and take the run rate slightly higher.

03:45And from there on, Wasim Akram and a few other bowlers like Aakib Javed will take over and

03:50do the job for us.

03:52You go back to the 1992 World Cup final, big stage, and he comes up with dramatic deliveries.

04:00Wazi Makhram brought back just for that purpose.

04:03Lamb and Faye brother had stuck on Pakistan, and now Wazi Makhram removes Lamb for 31.

04:10Deliveries which are forever entrenched in the memories of everyone.

04:14The one that gets Lamb, the one that gets Lewis reverse swing at his best.

04:18Wazi Makhram is on the hat-trick.

04:21Again, left arm around the wicket.

04:24Wazi Makhram was more famous for reverse swing, and he managed to get a ball that was

04:29probably never going to be more than 25-years-old, however old it was because you had one at

04:33each end, to reverse swing.

04:34It was devastating really for our batting because that ball changed its direction very late

04:39on.

04:40You know, Wazi in those days was probably about a 90-mile-an-hour bowler, so very, very difficult.

04:44And you know, he bowled Alan Lamb with an absolute beauty.

04:47And then the next ball, you know, thinking Chris Lewis maybe been paying attention to

04:51the team which way.

04:52That one had swung.

04:53Swung it the other way and got the inside edge and bowled him as well.

04:56The Pakistan players here, the spectators in the adder.

04:59And I suspect millions back home are dancing in absolute joy.

05:05The feeling was we got the trophy in our hands.

05:08That was the feeling.

05:09It's job done.

05:11You know, and we were expecting that from Wazi Makhram and the plan was this, that, you

05:17know, he's going to come run the stumps and he's going to entice the batsman into covering

05:23the off-stump and we all knew that he's going to deliver.

05:27That's up in the air.

05:28He's getting under it.

05:29This could be a victory.

05:30It is.

05:31Pakistan win the World Cup.

05:32A magnificent performance in front of 87,000 people.

05:36Ibn Khan has wed his side to victory.

05:39What a great victory.

05:41The momentum in this tournament has grown and grown and grown and they've timed their

05:45best form absolutely perfectly.

05:47And the man for me who's made this possible today, although it has been a team effort,

05:51has been Wazi Makhram.

05:5233 runs at a crucial time at the end of the Pakistani innings.

05:55Gave them the total.

05:56They need it.

05:57Three wickets as well.

05:58He was the man of the moment.

06:00I personally think that he was one of the best in Pakistan.

06:04And also, if you look at the whole world, he was one of the best around the world cricket

06:10ever produced.

06:12You look at all the bowling in the world.

06:14You've got so many brilliant fast bowlers.

06:17Every nation has iconic fast bowlers.

06:20But somehow, when you sit down and talk with these great players or you sit down and talk

06:26with everybody from around the globe, the two names that do crop up always are Malcolm

06:31Marshall and Wazi Makhram.

06:33So for that matter, Wazi Makhram probably, in my opinion, is the best left armer ever.

06:40When you're talking about impact of Wazi Makhram on Pakistan's cricket, till today, the

06:45highest number of left arm fast bowlers the country has produced, it's Pakistan.

06:50So you don't need to say anything more.

06:54The reason why they were such a strong side, I'd say, is the potency of their bowlers.

06:59Just think, Wazi Makhram was there.

07:01Imran, fantastic attacking bowlers.

07:04And in a sense, that's what won them in the World Cup.

07:09The bowlers cut loose.

07:11It just shows you, actually, that in the World Cup, if you've got some potent attacking bowlers,

07:17being nearly always in the dead.

07:18The end.

07:19The end.

07:20The end.

07:21The end.

07:22The end.

07:23The end.

07:24The end.

07:25The end.

07:26The end.

07:27The end.

07:28The end.

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