Viv is the best: Akram
Image : Collected
|| CF Correspondent ||
Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram has hailed Sir Vivian Richards as the best batsman he has bowled to in his career.
Basit Ali invited Akram in his Youtube channel show where the legendary Pakistan fast bowler was asked to pick five ever greatest batsman that he bowl to in his career.
Akram picked legendary West Indies batsman, Sir Vivian Richards, for the top spot, saying: "If you talk about a batsman with an unmatched technique, charisma and someone who had a huge impact on the game, it is Sir Vivian Richards. I have played against all the greats from mid-eighties to the nineties to the 2000s, but Viv Richards was a class apart.
"At number two I will put Martin Crowe because of his sheer technique. At a time when the world had no idea how to face reverse swing, he played against us. It was a series where Waqar got 30 wickets in three matches and I picked up 16 wickets in one and a half matches as I got injured. Crowe scored two centuries in that series."
He picked Brian Lara third, explaining: "At number three I will put 'the prince', Brian Lara. He was a quality batsman. He was very different and odd to bowl at. His bat would come from various directions. He was never settled and it was difficult to bowl to him," Akram said.
Akram picked his countryman Inzamam-ul-Haq fourth and India batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar at number five.
"I am keeping Tendulkar aside because we didn't play Test cricket against him for 10 years. Waqar and I didn't bowl to him for ten years in Test matches. He came to Pakistan in 1989 as a 16-year old and after that we played against him in 1999.
"I bowled at him in Sharjah in ODIs but Test cricket is different. No doubt he is one of the greats of the game but as a bowler I didn't bowl to him in my peak and that is why it is difficult for me to judge him."
