Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram has shut down all debates over the country’s greatest player, declaring Imran Khan as the best ever produced by Pakistan.

 

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Akram wrote, “The best ever cricketer produced by Pakistan is one and only skipper Imran Khan and please 🙏 finish this debate right now.”

The best ever cricketer produced by Pakistan is one and only skipper Imran Khan and please 🙏 finish this debate right now.

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) October 5, 2025

 

Earlier this year, the Sultan of Swing talked about his experience learning from Imran on the Stick To Cricket podcast hosted by Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David Lloyd, and Phil Tufnell. Akram said that whatever he achieved as a cricketer, both on and off the field, was because of Imran’s influence.

 

“He was the best captain I played under. He gave us confidence, led from the front, and believed in his own ability,” Akram had said.

 

The 59-year-old added that while people often called him naturally talented, Imran was not gifted in the same way but succeeded through sheer hard work and determination.

 

“He wasn’t talented. He worked hard. He even changed his bowling action completely, something that takes months, sometimes  never works, but he did it,” Akram said, calling his former skipper “tough but fair.”

 

Wasim, who made his international debut in 1984 under Imran’s captaincy, credited the skipper for shaping him into one of the finest bowlers in the world. The two later became key figures in Pakistan’s historic 1992 World Cup triumph, a victory that cemented Imran’s name in cricket history.

 

Over his international career, Imran Khan played 88 Test matches, scoring 3,807 runs at an average of 37.69 with six centuries and 18 fifties, while taking 362 wickets at an exceptional average of 22.81. In 175 One Day Internationals, he amassed 3,709 runs at 33.41 and claimed 182 wickets, with a career-best figure of 6 for 14.