Wasim takes final salute

By Shahid Hashmi
In Lahore

With 15,000 fans cheering his every move, Wasim Akram brought down the curtain on his career in a charity match in Lahore.

It was a feeling of being re-born Wasim Akram Wasim's career in pictures

Announcing his retirement in England earlier this year after a 19-year international career, the great left-arm paceman promised to make a farewell appearance on home soil.

The game was arranged to raise money for the Zindagi (meaning 'life') Trust, which is run by popular Pakistan singer Shahzad Roy.

Wasim led a Pakistan XI against a Rest of the World side.

Contemporaries like West Indians Courtney Walsh and Jimmy Adams, Australia's Dean Jones, former Lancashire team-mate Neil Fairbrother and Indians Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad all accepted his invitation to play.

Pakistan's official sponsors, Pepsi, arranged a special ceremony for Wasim following the national side's one-day match against South Africa in Rawalpindi last weekend.

But it was a muted affair as Pakistan's defeat in the game - and the series - meant many supporters left the ground before the ceremony took place.

It was a different story in Lahore as the crowd rose to give a final salute to their beloved star.

"When I retired I received a lot of telephone calls and e-mails from fans that I should have done so in a match on home soil and I have fulfilled their demands," said an elated Wasim.

"I owe it all to my fans, whether they live in Pakistan, England or anywhere in the world - no cricketer can become a great player until he is motivated by fans."

The 37-year-old took a record 502 wickets in 356 one-day internationals and finished with 414 wickets in 104 Tests.

PAKISTAN'S TOP WICKET-TAKERS Tests Wasim Akram 414 Waqar Younis 373 Imran Khan 362 Abdul Qadir 236 Saqlain Mushtaq207 ODIs Wasim Akram 502 Waqar Younis 416 Saqlain Mushtaq 288 Imran Khan 182 Aaqib Javed 182

And when he walked on the Gaddafi Stadium pitch to toss up alongside Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, hundreds of camera captured the moment.

"It's a great feeling, I led my country with distinction and this one last chance brought it all back," said Wasim.

He skippered Pakistan to the 1999 World Cup final, only to lose the job for the third and final time later that year in the wake of the Qayyum match-fixing inquiry.

Pakistan failed to progress beyond the first round of the 2003 World Cup and it marked the end of Wasim's international career.

He subsequently accepted a contract with Emglish county side Hampshire, only to have to cut it short because of ill health.

But Wasim looked in fine fettle in Lahore, hitting four boundaries in making 18 off 11 balls and then dismissing Jayasuriya with the fourth ball of the World XI innings as his side fittingly won by 44 runs.

"Wasim has entertained millions and the void he has left in international cricket will be hard to fill," former Aussie batting great Jones commented.

No Pakistan fan would argue with his sentiments.

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