[VIDEO] On This Day: October 20, 1996 - Wasim Akram produced a record-breaking Test innings of 257*

[Gotham Cronie]

As Pakistan resumed Day 4 in their Test vs Zimbabwe, they were sitting on 395/7, with Wasim Akram on 144* and Saqlain Mushtaq on 37*. Earlier, Zimbabwe had put up a competitive total in their first innings, scoring 375 runs.

While they continued to bat ensuring that the match would result in a draw, they also ensured that several records would be broken that day. Wasim Akram, went on to to finish with an unprecedented 257*. It became the highest score ever from someone batting at the #8 position.

​

Akram smashed 12 sixes as well, which broke the record for an individual innings.

His partnership with Saqlain Mushtaq (313 runs) broke the record for the 8th wicket.

Pakistan would be dismissed for 553. In reply, Zimbabwe were 38/1 at the end of Day 4.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHaup79FjnA

Scorecard:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63722.html

 

[emclub]

an amazing feat, look at those sixes, clean strikes

 

[R Shahid]

Superb Hitting From Wasim

 

[DHONI183]

On This Day October 20, 1996: Wasim Akram smashed 257* runs

He smashed them! One of those innings that I still remember from my childhood days.

 

[Gigii]

Poor Waqar, clean bowled for a golden after being padded up for hours!

 

[zabalestmsm]

Poor Waqar, clean bowled for a golden after being padded up for hours!

Lol... ha ha..

 

[Munna]

Those were the days when even my grandma would know all cricketers' names

 

[Shayan]

On this day in 1996 : Wasim Akram produced record-breaking innings of 257*

On October 20th 1996, Wasim Akram, more renowned for his wizardry with the ball, produced an incredible innings of 257* against Zimbabwe batting at no 8. It remains the highest score by a no.8 batsman in Test cricket.

At the time, his knock contained the most sixes in a Test innings, while his partnership of 313 for the 8th wicket with Saqlain Mushtaq was also a record before being surpassed by Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad in 2010.

Sometimes easy to forget that our legendary left-armer was also quite handy with the bat!

 

[Slog]

Wasim could easily have been a 28-32 averaging batsman if he had put enough effort and practise into his batting. Quite a few people have said that because from a technical point of view he had the base and the skill set to have some success with the bat.

But that would have most certainly come at the expense of his bowling as he would have devoted lesser time to it. He would still be a Pakistani great I am sure but we should all be glad that he didn't aim for that

 

[aloo paratha]

Wasim could easily have been a 28-32 averaging batsman if he had put enough effort and practise into his batting. Quite a few people have said that because from a technical point of view he had the base and the skill set to have some success with the bat.

But that would have most certainly come at the expense of his bowling as he would have devoted lesser time to it. He would still be a Pakistani great I am sure but we should all be glad that he didn't aim for that

Wasim says that Imran didn't let him at first and said that he still regrets not working on it enough. Anyways here is a video:

LONGER VERSION:

 

[EliteCynical]

Sheikhpura IIRC. Which state is that in?

 

[Slog]

Sheikhpura IIRC. Which state is that in?

Punjab. Near Sialkot. Asif and Rana Naved are from there. I guess a few others.

In the 90s and earlier Pakistan used to play international matches at many random cities which don't even see much top domestic cricket now like Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Quetta, Hyderabad etc.

Apparently now there is a rule that there needs to be a five star hotel near the stadium so the smaller centres like these used to miss out in 2000s when we had home games

 

[zabalestmsm]

And Waqar had to wait (with his pads on) for many hours only to get out on a first ball duck ha ha!

 

[EliteCynical]

Punjab. Near Sialkot. Asif and Rana Naved are from there. I guess a few others.

In the 90s and earlier Pakistan used to play international matches at many random cities which don't even see much top domestic cricket now like Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Quetta, Hyderabad etc.

Apparently now there is a rule that there needs to be a five star hotel near the stadium so the smaller centres like these used to miss out in 2000s when we had home games

I see. Thanks for the detailed response.

 

[Pak Warrior]

And Waqar had to wait (with his pads on) for many hours only to get out on a first ball duck ha ha!

Haha that's quite hilarious actually, not that he's known for his batting but just to wait so long for nothing is so anticlimactic

 

[Pak Warrior]

Punjab. Near Sialkot. Asif and Rana Naved are from there. I guess a few others.

In the 90s and earlier Pakistan used to play international matches at many random cities which don't even see much top domestic cricket now like Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Quetta, Hyderabad etc.

Apparently now there is a rule that there needs to be a five star hotel near the stadium so the smaller centres like these used to miss out in 2000s when we had home games

I love Sialkot area, it's where my dad's family is from, great place to chill and relax away from all the rush of the big cities.

I'm born in Rawalpindi, but Lahore is my favorite city in the world, Lahore Rocks!

 

[Mamoon]

Massive underachiever with the bat.

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Wasim has a higher test score than Tendulkar?????!!!!

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Massive underachiever with the bat.

Yea...He was extremely promising with the bat in the early part of his career

 

[jimbob5]

Wasim has a higher test score than Tendulkar?????!!!!

Yes-but it was aside from Paul Strang against a load of pie chuckers on a featherbed.

 

[Pak Warrior]

Yes-but it was aside from Paul Strang against a load of pie chuckers on a featherbed.

How good was the Zimbo side that Kapil Dev smashed for 175?

 

[JibranAnsari]

Punjab. Near Sialkot. Asif and Rana Naved are from there. I guess a few others.

In the 90s and earlier Pakistan used to play international matches at many random cities which don't even see much top domestic cricket now like Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Quetta, Hyderabad etc.

Apparently now there is a rule that there needs to be a five star hotel near the stadium so the smaller centres like these used to miss out in 2000s when we had home games

It is closer to lahore than to sialkot.

 

[ExplicitAI]

Probably the best tailender in the world.

 

[karthikc]

How good was the Zimbo side that Kapil Dev smashed for 175?

Not bad considering they upset Australia in that WC ( Hope I am right on this).

Kevin Curren was the main bowler I guess.

Kapil was so angry after coming back that no one dared talk to him. Gavaskar then went and patted him on his back telling "Well Played". For me he is the greatest Indian cricketer

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Has a test hundred in Australia if I'm not wrong. But he could genuinely produce match winning cameos with the bat in ODI's. Was a damn clean hitter of the ball.

 

[WC-Passion]

Whoa, what an innings.

 

[Pak Warrior]

Not bad considering they upset Australia in that WC ( Hope I am right on this).

Kevin Curren was the main bowler I guess.

Kapil was so angry after coming back that no one dared talk to him. Gavaskar then went and patted him on his back telling "Well Played". For me he is the greatest Indian cricketer

Uh oh A lot of indian fans will argue against your claim of Kapil as the greatest Indian cricketer

 

[jimbob5]

Decent, but not outstanding.

 

[Amjid Javed]

The funniest thing about this Inns was next man in waqar younis sat with his pads on for about 8 hours waiting to bat and when he came out to bat he was warned by wasim to watch out for an inswing delivery and took no notice and got out 1st ball, must have been gutted to wait to bat that long and then last one ball

 

[Bashira_taeli]

Punjab. Near Sialkot. Asif and Rana Naved are from there. I guess a few others.

In the 90s and earlier Pakistan used to play international matches at many random cities which don't even see much top domestic cricket now like Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Quetta, Hyderabad etc.

Apparently now there is a rule that there needs to be a five star hotel near the stadium so the smaller centres like these used to miss out in 2000s when we had home games

Sheikhupura is much closer to Lahore than Sialkot I think.

Aqib Javed and Imran Nazir were also were this city.

 

[dhump]

my elder sister broke her hand trying to see him hitting record breaking six while running from one floor to the other...I remember how patient Saqlain was for his 70 odd runs.

 

[Abdullah719]

What a knock

 

[The_Odd_One]

Not bad considering they upset Australia in that WC ( Hope I am right on this).

Kevin Curren was the main bowler I guess.

Kapil was so angry after coming back that no one dared talk to him. Gavaskar then went and patted him on his back telling "Well Played". For me he is the greatest Indian cricketer

All those bowlers Kapil smashed averaged in high 30s and 40s.

 

[waleed88]

I remember seeing it live on tv that time, I was a kid back then, and I always remembered that knock when Wasim came out to bat in a difficult situation with our top order removed. Sadly Wasim's average of 16 in ODIs never fully did justice to what he could to as a batsman. He was much more talented than his stats suggested.

 

[Bilal7]

This innings and Jason Gillespie's are truly bizarre. 200+ being scored by a bowler is like a 10 wicket haul being taken by a part-timer.

 

[giri26]

This innings and Jason Gillespie's are truly bizarre. 200+ being scored by a bowler is like a 10 wicket haul being taken by a part-timer.

Well Wasim always had the ability but again 257 was a huge score. Jason Gillespie was more of an anomaly as he mostly was a batsman who had good defence and could stick around and hardly had any powerful shots.

 

[Abdullah719]

 

[ManFan]

Pakistan was 237-7 with the team 138 runs behind.

Wasim and Saqlain then ook the score to 550-8.

Waz broke the record for...

1) most sixes in an innings.
2) highest score by a Pakistani captain.
3) bowler with 300 or more wickets.
4) Number 8 batsman.
5) Against Zimbabwe.

Waqar was padded up for ten hours only to be bowled first ball!

 

[ManFan]

This innings and Jason Gillespie's are truly bizarre. 200+ being scored by a bowler is like a 10 wicket haul being taken by a part-timer.

Allan Border took eleven wickets against the WI at the SCG in 1989.

He took 11/96 (7/46 and 4/50) and scored 75 and 16*.

Sobers who?

 

[Napa]

How good was the Zimbo side that Kapil Dev smashed for 175?

They had India down to 17/5 when Kapil walked in to add his 17/5, I mean 175.

The Indian team had some pretty good batsmen but the weather conditions and the pitch helped the Zimb bowlers, at least until Kapil started playing.

Not bad considering they upset Australia in that WC ( Hope I am right on this).

Kevin Curren was the main bowler I guess.

Kapil was so angry after coming back that no one dared talk to him. Gavaskar then went and patted him on his back telling "Well Played". For me he is the greatest Indian cricketer

You are right. Zimb had beaten Australia before in a group match. I won't say for me Kapil is the greatest Indian cricketer, though he does belong in the group right after Gavaskar, Tendulkar and (soon to be) Kohli. It is subjective, and if you think him to be the greatest Indian I won't argue. But this innings may have been the greatest Indian ODI innings.

 

[Napa]

Waqar was padded up for ten hours only to be bowled first ball!

He just wanted to get those pads off, couldn't wait for even one more ball )

 

[MenInG]

What a dream innings by Wasim Akram! Obviously couldnt repeat it again but did mark him as a good batting option for a long time to come

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay1996?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay1996</a>. Wasim Akram in the first Test against Zimbabwe, in Sheikhupura smashed 12 sixes as he scored an unbeaten 257, the highest score by a Number 8 in Tests <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/WAlixMGTe5">pic.twitter.com/WAlixMGTe5</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1185824293323792384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Brilliant innings this, always wondered why he couldn't do it again and again.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Never gets old

https://twitter.com/x/status/1847963828522197500