Wasim Akram HI (Urdu: وسیم اکرم; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several critics regard him as the greatest left-arm fast bowler of cricket history.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.[9][10][11][12] A left-arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.[13][14][15] He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket, and he did so during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time.
Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan.[16] Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.[13] On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[17][18] He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders.[19] However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi,[20] and he took a further break from IPL 2017; he was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017.[21] In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.[22] In November 2018, he joined PSL franchisee Karachi Kings as a President. [23] The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of cricket.[24]Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.[25] Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947.
[26][27] His mother's name is Begum Akram. He has 3 siblings. Two elder brothers Naeem Akram and Nadeem Akram. He has one younger sister, Sofia Akram. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.[28][29] At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it."[30] Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.[31] Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.[32] They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000).[33] Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.[34] On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.[35] Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids." He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children.[36] On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family.[37] On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.