Playing India was highlight of my career: Wasim

LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said playing arch-rivals India was the highlight of his career and that it was an unbelievable experience.

The India-Pakistan cricket rivalry captures the imagination of the entire cricketing world but the two arch-rivals have not played each other in a bilateral series since 2012-13 due to strained relations.

Last year, former India sports minister Vijay Goel had categorically stated there could be no bilateral cricket with Pakistan as “cricket and terrorism can’t go hand-in-hand.”In fact, the last time India and Pakistan played out a full-fledged bilateral series was including Tests was way back in 2007-08. The likes of Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Azhar Ali and Mohammad Amir have never played an India-Pakistan Test match.

However, Akram, one of Pakistan’s most celebrated cricketers, does know a thing or two about the pressure of playing India. He played 12 Tests and 48 ODIs vs India - out of those 8 Tests and 18 ODIs were played in India.

“Indo-Pak cricket is something different, something unbelievable. One series can get you a couple of players that can go on and play for you for 15 years,” Akram, 51, was quoted by India Today. “The amount of pressure, the celebrations start months before the games or series. I mean I was lucky that I played three series against India...two in India and one in Pakistan; so you know I remember it like it was yesterday, it was the highlight of my career playing against India either in Pakistan or in India. It was just unbelievable, I can’t explain it in words,” he said.

Akram said the India-Pakistan rivalry was bigger than the Ashes, the oldest cricket rivalry in cricket history. “The beauty of Indo-Pak cricket is something you can’t compare with any other cricket (rivalry) in the world. I am all for the Ashes; when they talk about Ashes how many people can watch the Ashes? Five million, 10 million or let’s say 20 million.“The World Cup game that India and Pakistan played in Australia at Adelaide — a billion people watched that game,” he said.