Former Pakistan captain and Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram has revealed that former New Zealand middle-order batter Martin Crowe was the toughest player he faced in his career.

 

Recently, Akram appeared on the Stick to Cricket podcast, where he was asked to name the toughest batter he faced. Responding to the question, Akram said, "Look, this is a very difficult question to answer, but if you had to pick one person who scored the most runs against us and that too at a time when nobody knew about reverse swing, I would name Martin Crowe from New Zealand. He scored a lot of runs against us."

 

Martin Crowe represented New Zealand from 1982 to 1995. During his 13-year international career, he played 11 Tests against Pakistan and scored 973 runs, including two centuries and six fifties in 20 innings. In One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Crowe amassed 992 runs in 26 matches against Pakistan.

 

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Crowe passed away on March 3, 2016, after battling follicular lymphoma. A year before his death, he was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, and in 2024, New Zealand Cricket honoured him by including him in the NZC Hall of Fame as one of the First XI.

 

Wasim Akram played for Pakistan from 1984 to 2003 and was one of the most feared fast bowlers in world cricket. During his 19-year career, he gave tough competition to some of the best batters in the game with his lethal swing bowling. Legends like Steve Waugh, Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara, and Ricky Ponting all struggled against him at various points. Akram retired from international cricket in 2003 with over 900 wickets in 460 matches.