Harsh Thakor
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- Oct 1, 2012
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Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram were 2 cricketers who influenced the era which they played in similar to great statesman ion world history.On the cricket charm they had the buoyancy of a river in full flow and exuded joy at its highest zenith.
Wasim Akram was the more artistic,creative or versatile cricketer reminiscent of a magician.Adam Gilchrist was the more flamboyant,determined and agressive or explosive reminding you of a thunderstorm or a gladiator.Wasim dominated the game for a longer era but in his peak nobody rivalled Gilchrist as a match-winner.In the 1st half of his test carer he averaged over 60 at no 7 with an astonishing average in games won and strike rate.Gilchrist was major driving force in Australia reaching the mantle of an almost invincible team in test cricket .Often he lifted his side out of the depths of despair to reach the pinnacle of glory.Above all he was prolific against both South Africa and Pakistan-the strongest opponents of his day.No cricketer was as intimidating as Adam who in full flow resembled a dynamite exploding.
Wasim arguably had marginally more natural talent and was more of a craftsmen than Gilchrist.It was harder for a great batsmen to face Wasim than for a great bowler to bowl at Gilly.Wasim posessed more skill with the ball than Gilly posessed behind the stumps.Gilchrist batted at no 7 in tsets while Wasim opened the bowling attack.Gilchrist for most of his career played for a considerably stronger team than Wasim and still Wasim played a major role in Pakistan winning the 1992 world cup and all but winning the unofficial world test championship title.Arguably in an all-time left-handed cricketers xi Wasim would have been more impactful.
In the end by a margin of a whisker I would plump for Wasim Akram because of his greater longevity and moral influence on the game.In tests it is neck to neck while in ODIs Wasim would be a clear winner.Wasim also led his team to win 50% of the 20 odd tests he was the captain.He also won more man of the match awards than anyone in his era.Gilchrist was more the one to bang the final nails in to the coffin or give the knockout punch but Wasim was the greater propellor of team
in laying the foundation for capitalisation or consolidation.
STATISTICS COMPILED FROM S.RAJESH IN CRICINFO
ADAM GILCHRIST IN ODIS
Australia 1996-2008 286 278 11 9595 172 35.93
won match 1997-2008 202 196 10 7657 172 41.16 7708 99.33 16 43 7 923 125 view innings
lost match 1996-2008 73 72 1 1767 92 24.88 1955 90.38 0 12 10 214 2
IN TESTS
overall 1999-2008 96 137 20 5570 204* 47.60 6796 81.95
won match 1999-2008 73 97 18 4332 204* 54.83 5266 82.26 14 23 9 512 85 view innings
lost match 2001-2008 11 21 1 598 133 29.90 702 85.18 1 2 2 83
WASIM AKRAM IN ODIS
With 326 ODI wickets in wins, Akram is next only to Muralitharan in this regard. He's clearly one of the greatest matchwinners in ODIs, averaging less than 19 at a run rate of 3.70. Among bowlers with at least 150 wickets in wins, only four bowlers have a better average.
Best bowling averages in wins in ODIs (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler ODIs Wickets Average Econ rate 4+ wkts
Saqlain Mushtaq 93 188 15.84 3.78 11
Glenn McGrath 171 301 17.94 3.65 15
Muttiah Muralitharan 191 347 18.08 3.63 21
Waqar Younis 149 278 18.76 4.33 21
Wasim Akram 199 326 18.86 3.70 18
Allan Donald 108 195 19.05 3.96 10
And then there's the small matter of Akram the captain. In the 25 Tests in which he led Pakistan, they won 12 and lost eight, and his reign included a series win in England, and clinching the Asian Test Championship. His ODI record was impressive too: a win-loss ratio of 1.6, which is the joint-highest for any Pakistan captain who led in more than 50 games.
Highest ODI win % for Pakistan captains (Qual: 50 matches as captain) Captain Matches Won W/L ratio
Wasim Akram 109 66 1.60
Waqar Younis 62 37 1.60
Inzamam-ul-Haq 87 51 1.54
Imran Khan 139 75 1.27
Javed Miandad 62 26 0.78
IN TESTS
Overall, he won 17 Man-of-the-Match and seven Man-of-the-Series awards, both of which are among the highest. Even better, his rate of winning these awards, one every six Tests, is the best among those who've won at least ten such prizes.
Highest frequency of MoM awards in Tests (Qual: 10 awards) Player Tests MoM awards Tests per award
Wasim Akram 104 17 6.12
Jacques Kallis 137 20 6.85
Muttiah Muralitharan 132 19 6.95
Curtly Ambrose 98 14 7.00
Imran Khan 88 11 8.00
Malcolm Marshall 81 10 8.10
Best Test bowlers between Jan 1990 and Dec 1997 (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Wasim Akram 48 240 20.05 46.4 16/ 3
Curtly Ambrose 57 247 20.50 52.8 17/ 3
Waqar Younis 46 232 21.23 40.1 19/ 4
Allan Donald 36 171 23.27 48.8 9/ 2
Glenn McGrath 36 164 23.42 53.0 9/ 0
Shane Warne 62 289 24.08 62.9 12/ 3
Wasim Akram was the more artistic,creative or versatile cricketer reminiscent of a magician.Adam Gilchrist was the more flamboyant,determined and agressive or explosive reminding you of a thunderstorm or a gladiator.Wasim dominated the game for a longer era but in his peak nobody rivalled Gilchrist as a match-winner.In the 1st half of his test carer he averaged over 60 at no 7 with an astonishing average in games won and strike rate.Gilchrist was major driving force in Australia reaching the mantle of an almost invincible team in test cricket .Often he lifted his side out of the depths of despair to reach the pinnacle of glory.Above all he was prolific against both South Africa and Pakistan-the strongest opponents of his day.No cricketer was as intimidating as Adam who in full flow resembled a dynamite exploding.
Wasim arguably had marginally more natural talent and was more of a craftsmen than Gilchrist.It was harder for a great batsmen to face Wasim than for a great bowler to bowl at Gilly.Wasim posessed more skill with the ball than Gilly posessed behind the stumps.Gilchrist batted at no 7 in tsets while Wasim opened the bowling attack.Gilchrist for most of his career played for a considerably stronger team than Wasim and still Wasim played a major role in Pakistan winning the 1992 world cup and all but winning the unofficial world test championship title.Arguably in an all-time left-handed cricketers xi Wasim would have been more impactful.
In the end by a margin of a whisker I would plump for Wasim Akram because of his greater longevity and moral influence on the game.In tests it is neck to neck while in ODIs Wasim would be a clear winner.Wasim also led his team to win 50% of the 20 odd tests he was the captain.He also won more man of the match awards than anyone in his era.Gilchrist was more the one to bang the final nails in to the coffin or give the knockout punch but Wasim was the greater propellor of team
in laying the foundation for capitalisation or consolidation.
STATISTICS COMPILED FROM S.RAJESH IN CRICINFO
ADAM GILCHRIST IN ODIS
Australia 1996-2008 286 278 11 9595 172 35.93
won match 1997-2008 202 196 10 7657 172 41.16 7708 99.33 16 43 7 923 125 view innings
lost match 1996-2008 73 72 1 1767 92 24.88 1955 90.38 0 12 10 214 2
IN TESTS
overall 1999-2008 96 137 20 5570 204* 47.60 6796 81.95
won match 1999-2008 73 97 18 4332 204* 54.83 5266 82.26 14 23 9 512 85 view innings
lost match 2001-2008 11 21 1 598 133 29.90 702 85.18 1 2 2 83
WASIM AKRAM IN ODIS
With 326 ODI wickets in wins, Akram is next only to Muralitharan in this regard. He's clearly one of the greatest matchwinners in ODIs, averaging less than 19 at a run rate of 3.70. Among bowlers with at least 150 wickets in wins, only four bowlers have a better average.
Best bowling averages in wins in ODIs (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler ODIs Wickets Average Econ rate 4+ wkts
Saqlain Mushtaq 93 188 15.84 3.78 11
Glenn McGrath 171 301 17.94 3.65 15
Muttiah Muralitharan 191 347 18.08 3.63 21
Waqar Younis 149 278 18.76 4.33 21
Wasim Akram 199 326 18.86 3.70 18
Allan Donald 108 195 19.05 3.96 10
And then there's the small matter of Akram the captain. In the 25 Tests in which he led Pakistan, they won 12 and lost eight, and his reign included a series win in England, and clinching the Asian Test Championship. His ODI record was impressive too: a win-loss ratio of 1.6, which is the joint-highest for any Pakistan captain who led in more than 50 games.
Highest ODI win % for Pakistan captains (Qual: 50 matches as captain) Captain Matches Won W/L ratio
Wasim Akram 109 66 1.60
Waqar Younis 62 37 1.60
Inzamam-ul-Haq 87 51 1.54
Imran Khan 139 75 1.27
Javed Miandad 62 26 0.78
IN TESTS
Overall, he won 17 Man-of-the-Match and seven Man-of-the-Series awards, both of which are among the highest. Even better, his rate of winning these awards, one every six Tests, is the best among those who've won at least ten such prizes.
Highest frequency of MoM awards in Tests (Qual: 10 awards) Player Tests MoM awards Tests per award
Wasim Akram 104 17 6.12
Jacques Kallis 137 20 6.85
Muttiah Muralitharan 132 19 6.95
Curtly Ambrose 98 14 7.00
Imran Khan 88 11 8.00
Malcolm Marshall 81 10 8.10
Best Test bowlers between Jan 1990 and Dec 1997 (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Wasim Akram 48 240 20.05 46.4 16/ 3
Curtly Ambrose 57 247 20.50 52.8 17/ 3
Waqar Younis 46 232 21.23 40.1 19/ 4
Allan Donald 36 171 23.27 48.8 9/ 2
Glenn McGrath 36 164 23.42 53.0 9/ 0
Shane Warne 62 289 24.08 62.9 12/ 3
