Mohammad Azharuddin picks Wasim Akram as toughest bowler he ever faced

Mohammad Azharuddin is certainly one of the finest cricketers to have played the game for India at the highest level. He was known for his brilliant batting and sharp fielding abilities. Apart from his unique cricketing skills, he is also one of the best captains to have led the Men in Blue from the front.

While Azhar enthralled one and all with his exceptional performances on the 22 yards, he has recently admitted that there was a bowler who would give him a tough time. He he is none other than the Pakistani pace legend Wasim Akram.

On Saturday (January 22), Azharuddin conducted a Q&A session on Twitter. One of the enthusiasts of the game named Shiraz Hassan, who is a Pakistani journalist, asked Azhar who is the toughest bowler that he has ever faced and also asked him to name one from the neighboring country to which the former Indian skipper replied by saying it was the ‘Sultan of Swing’.

Mohammad Azharuddin’s illustrious cricketing career

Meanwhile, Mohammad Azharuddin played 99 Tests for India and scored 6215 runs at an average of 45.04 in the traditional format. As far as Azhar’s One-Day International career is concerned, he amassed  9378 runs averaging 36.92 from 334  appearances.

On his debut Test at the Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens, the Hyderabad cricketer scored a scintillating 110 against England and in the following Test, the future captain again scored a century. Things did not end there as Azharudding yet again breached the three-figure mark in the third Test match at Kanpur.

On  February 1, 1985, Azharuddin completed his third consecutive Test century and since then, no other batter has scored three consecutive tons in the opening three Test matches of their careers.

As far as his captaincy is concerned, the elegant middle-order batter led India in three straight World Cups- 1992, 1996 & 1999 respectively where the two-time winners finished in the league stages, semi-finals, and Super 6s respectively.

An infmous match-fixing saga brought an abrupt end to his glorious on-field career in 2000. Azhar then tried his luck in politics and also worked as a cricket analyst for news channels. He also served Hyderabad Cricket Association as the chairman.