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[Video] Wasim Akram's fitness in the 90's!

Azlan Khan

Azlan Khan

T20I Debutant
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
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7,220
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Never seen this before, was this an event?

It was fun to watch :wasim
 
He is looking like Amitabh chasing some villain in the 80's. :wasim
 
All of our players will fail this drill.

Except Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Misbah and Younus Khan.
 
His fitness was always impressive. Played both tests and odis well into his 30s and even around 2002/2003 when he must have been 35 or 36 his bowling form was as good as it was when he was in his early 20s. (in odis anyway, his last few years of tests were a disappointment because of selection issues).

I remember him talking about developing type 2 diabetes when he was 29 or 30 and he said that ironically that probably extended his career because he became even more obsessive about his health and fitness after becoming diabetic.
 
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Wasim Bhai cigarette nahi peetay, isliye nahi thaktay :misbah
 
The guy in red was Steve Ovett. He was a British Olympic middle distance runner, had a great rivalry with Sebastian Coe in the 80s as two of the best middle distance runners in the world. Not sure he if ever won Olympic gold, pretty sure he did.
 
The other guy was athlete Steve Ovett an I remember watching this live on The Krypton Factor.
 
I remember watching this when it was first shown on TV.

Lost my voice cheering for Wasim :)
 
Soprano said:
The other guy was athlete Steve Ovett an I remember watching this live on The Krypton Factor.
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Wow! I had no idea. For him to beat a world-class middle distance runner is absolutely unreal. 800m/1500m experts have unreal stamina and that course was utterly brutal.
 
Gigii said:
The guy in red was Steve Ovett. He was a British Olympic middle distance runner, had a great rivalry with Sebastian Coe in the 80s as two of the best middle distance runners in the world. Not sure he if ever won Olympic gold, pretty sure he did.
Click to expand...

I guess Wasim should have been in Track and Field too.

Either the British athlete is terrible or old or Wasim is just too good for anyone at that time.
 
Saj said:
I remember watching this when it was first shown on TV.

Lost my voice cheering for Wasim :)
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Was this an event? :13:

I was also nervous near the finish line, even though this is first time i've seen it :afridi
 
mithun_minhas said:
I guess Wasim should have been in Track and Field too.

Either the British athlete is terrible or old or Wasim is just too good for anyone at that time.
Click to expand...

Depends when this was done. I'm guessing mid 90s when Steve would have been well past his sell by date, he was winning his golds in 1980! Retired in 1991.
 
Lol I'm trying to imagine some of our current crop doing this.

Yousuf would be a treat to watch.

And Jamshed would just be crab stepping his way through with the likes of Shahzaib Hassan and Sharjeel Khan.

And lol at how Irfan would handle this.

Younis and Misbah would be ok at this.
 
If anyone's ever watched Total Wipeout, I imagine quite a few current players would end up like most of the contestants on that.
 
Gigii said:
If anyone's ever watched Total Wipeout, I imagine quite a few current players would end up like most of the contestants on that.
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I'd like to see that accompanied with commentary from Ramiz and co
 
Wow, looked like a lil jungle boy running through those obstacles. Super fit ! Very impressed by that.

Surely this should be mandatory now in PCB camps, forget all these Summer Camps, ARMY DRILLS the way forward LOl.
 
Wow, mad respects to Wasim, thats awesome easily the top 5 athletes I have ever seen.....
 
Remember watching it live, he nailed the course. Bechara could not answer a single question during the questions round. At the end of the show the winner is presented with a cup/medal, Imran Khan appears dressed in a suave suit and presents it. I'm fairly certain Wasim did not win.
 
I always admire fit cricketers. They don't have to be the best cricketers in the team these days but I HATE HATE HATE seeing well-paid cricketers with big belly hanging over their trousers.
 
Can you imagine some of today's cricketers with the big belly who eat curry and bread and pizza all day trying to run this course? They would die of heart attack.
 
I recall watching a Lancashire training session when Wasim Akram was playing for them. He was amongst the fastest and the fittest even in a Lancashire side which had a number of excellent athletes.
 
Remember watching this when they first showed it on Krypton Factor. Iirc- it was in the late 80s rather than 90s.

The fact he beat Steve Ovett was also quite an achievement. Steve was one of the best middle distance runners in the world in the early 80s and still extremely fit even after he stopped competing at the highest level in the mid 80s.

P.S. not quite sure why people are talking about the 96 QF in this thread. It has nothing to do with it.
 
TheSultan said:
Remember watching this when they first showed it on Krypton Factor. Iirc- it was in the late 80s rather than 90s.

The fact he beat Steve Ovett was also quite an achievement. Steve was one of the best middle distance runners in the world in the early 80s and still extremely fit even after he stopped competing at the highest level in the mid 80s.

P.S. not quite sure why people are talking about the 96 QF in this thread. It has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...

Check the twitter link above for Akram's say on the 1996 QF.
 
Akram's run-up was short but very fast. He had a diabetic condition as well which probably limited him in his later years. You need good athleticism to run that fast and deliver. Till date athleticism is considered main ingredient to be a great fast bowler not rambo style muscles
 
Azlan Khan said:
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What an athlete he was
 
TheSultan said:
Remember watching this when they first showed it on Krypton Factor. Iirc- it was in the late 80s rather than 90s.

The fact he beat Steve Ovett was also quite an achievement. Steve was one of the best middle distance runners in the world in the early 80s and still extremely fit even after he stopped competing at the highest level in the mid 80s.

P.S. not quite sure why people are talking about the 96 QF in this thread. It has nothing to do with it.
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I know it's been a long time but any idea on which UK channel was it shown?
 
I might sound old school but I always believed that if you want to get super fit then train like the armed forces of a country. The most important aspect in fitness is endurance then comes strength, speed and suppleness. Nowadays, people get inspired by non athletes like celebrities, movie stars who pump iron to get in shape rather than get fit. The new generation of fast bowlers struggle to bowl 30 overs in a day despite lifting weights and bulking up.

I remember reading Akram's interview in a cricket magazine somewhere in the early 90s...I guess it was 1990-91. He said he would run miles and miles a week and bowl and bowl in the nets. His Lancashire teammates/staff were in awe of his fitness routine.
 
Hawkeye said:
Wasim Bhai cigarette nahi peetay, isliye nahi thaktay :misbah
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He was a regular smoker when I met him years ago towards the end of his playing days. I dont know if he still smokes or not. I think he does.
 
Rana said:
Shadab Khan is also pretty fit

Shoaib Malik was brilliant too
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The no. of games Wasim played is just astounding. 350+ ODIs and 100+ tests that too as a bowling allrounder.
In addition, he also played 200+ more LA games and FC matches. He could generate so much pace with a minimal run up.
 
Wasim like most fast bowlers was injury prone. He also had rather poor eating habits too that could be why he became a diabetic.
 
PakLFC said:
Wasim like most fast bowlers was injury prone. He also had rather poor eating habits too that could be why he became a diabetic.
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Your bias against WA is pathetic. Wasim played through numerous groin hamstring and side problems via the use of pain killers, injuries and niggles for which someone like Amir will sit out for.

Diabetes can sometimes be genetic or because of an adverse reaction to a medication. You don't always get it just because you eat badly all the time.
 
Savak said:
Your bias against WA is pathetic. Wasim played through numerous groin hamstring and side problems via the use of pain killers, injuries and niggles for which someone like Amir will sit out for.

Diabetes can sometimes be genetic or because of an adverse reaction to a medication. You don't always get it just because you eat badly all the time.
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So you agree that he was injury prone hence all the pain killers and other injuries. If you drown a 100 doughnuts then diabetes in inevitable. No one is questioning his world class ability as a bowler but lets not forget his no balls, wides and how many times he was taken apart by so many batsmen.
 
PakLFC said:
So you agree that he was injury prone hence all the pain killers and other injuries. If you drown a 100 doughnuts then diabetes in inevitable. No one is questioning his world class ability as a bowler but lets not forget his no balls, wides and how many times he was taken apart by so many batsmen.
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Wasim had a very good economy rate, it was better than Waqars. Wasim being a professional athlete, I doubt his diet was any worse than the team mates he played with but he is the only one who ended up with diabetes but not the others.

My chacha is the only one in our family who developed diabetes as a student in the US, there was no family history of diabetes before. He eats normally just like everyone else.

I know someone who craves on sugary drinks, chocolates, ice cream every second day and has a paunch but is not diabetic even though he is touching 50 now.

Fawad Khan the actor has diabetes. Nick Jonas is a diabetic. Both these individuals look slim, smart and take care of themselves. No black and white rule on whether you get this illness or not.
 
Savak said:
Wasim had a very good economy rate, it was better than Waqars. Wasim being a professional athlete, I doubt his diet was any worse than the team mates he played with but he is the only one who ended up with diabetes but not the others.

My chacha is the only one in our family who developed diabetes as a student in the US, there was no family history of diabetes before. He eats normally just like everyone else.

I know someone who craves on sugary drinks, chocolates, ice cream every second day and has a paunch but is not diabetic even though he is touching 50 now.

Fawad Khan the actor has diabetes. Nick Jonas is a diabetic. Both these individuals look slim, smart and take care of themselves. No black and white rule on whether you get this illness or not.
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Many who attract diabetes is because of bad eating habits too. We do not know how Wasim got it but once read how he had bad eating habits during his youth. Diabetes is one of those things that many with good diets get it too where as others who are addicted on sugar do not. By and large it is associated with a bad diet, alcohol and heavy smoking.

Wasim wasn't the healthiest of Cricketers lets put it that way. He once said himself how IK would keep an eye on his diet when they were playing together. My Dad attracted diabetes because he was a chain smoker.
 
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PakLFC said:
Many who attract diabetes is because of bad eating habits too. We do not know how Wasim got it but once read how he had bad eating habits during his youth. Diabetes is one of those things that many with good diets get it too where as others who are addicted on sugar do not. By and large it is associated with a bad diet, alcohol and heavy smoking.

Wasim wasn't the healthiest of Cricketers lets put it that way. He once said himself how IK would keep an eye on his diet when they were playing together. My Dad attracted diabetes because he was a chain smoker.
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Type 1 diabetes - Your pancreas stops producing insulin, or produces very little of it.

Type 2 diabetes - Your pancreas produces sufficient insulin but your body cells lose the ability to absorb it completely.

You get type 2 diabetes with poor diet, and of course genes play a very important part as well. Wasim has type 1 diabetes, and that happens only due to genes, not because of food habits.
 
Hitman said:
Type 1 diabetes - Your pancreas stops producing insulin, or produces very little of it.

Type 2 diabetes - Your pancreas produces sufficient insulin but your body cells lose the ability to absorb it completely.

You get type 2 diabetes with poor diet, and of course genes play a very important part as well. Wasim has type 1 diabetes, and that happens only due to genes, not because of food habits.
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I think type 2 can be reversed by changing the diet. This does not mean the patient can return to eating sweets or drinking soda.
 
PakLFC said:
I think type 2 can be reversed by changing the diet. This does not mean the patient can return to eating sweets or drinking soda.
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Yes, true. Type 2 diabetes can be reversed to an extent by maintaining an extremely low carb diet and regular fasting for about a year or two. It certainly helps.
 
Wasim is now an advocate for healthy eating habits, daily excercise and a healthy daily routine. His wife is also a fitness and clean healthy diet freak.
 
The course had a lot of balance aspects - I guess Wasim has the edge there- fast bowlers leap, half turn to deliver, twist back away from the wicket danger area all at full pace while swing one arm over= tricky balance to do.

Also the rope climbs- fast bowlers pull down the front arm for generating pace then the bowling arm is another pull down= similar muscles to pulling up the nets. Some Aussie bowlers kayak to develop the same pull down muscles.

He was a fit and agile guy. Not surprised given his fluid & whippy action and ability to sprint in all day in fc/test. Most bowlers who can bat a bit is the clue they are a good all round athlete usually.
 
Cricketers of the 80s and 90s era we're not diet conscious. The Aussies on tours especially to England will be drinking tons of XXXX, Fosters plus eating pies, McDonald's almost everyday. I have read Steve Waugh's 1993 Ashes Diary and you won't believe the crap they used to eat at hotels, functions even at lunch breaks during a Test match.

If Aussies were eating junk in that era just imagine what our desi cricketers might be eating on tours or even at home. And we all know Akram likes his food.

I guess it's due to the poor's eating habits and his love for food in the late 80s and 90s that Akram ended up being a diabetic. Although he always blame it on the stress of match-fixing allegations which took a toll on his body. I'm not sure stress will make u diabetic. Is it true?
 
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Azlan Khan said:
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Would be a great spectacle to see Sharjeel and Azam Khan compete against each other in this, winner gets to open the batting :yk
 
Savak said:
Wasim is now an advocate for healthy eating habits, daily excercise and a healthy daily routine. His wife is also a fitness and clean healthy diet freak.
Click to expand...

He was very fit at his playing days obviously, but when I saw him during Pakistan v England T20Is, it looked like he had gained a lot of extra kgs. Not blaming him at all, but just my impression.
 
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