- Frequently regarded by both cricket historians as well as analysts as the greatest left-arm bowler of all-time. Has also been regularly cited by several great batsmen as the best bowler they ever came across, including West Indian Brian Lara, South African Jacques Kallis, Australian Ricky Ponting and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara.
- Represented the Pakistan National Cricket Team in 104 tests and 356 One Day Internationals, taking 414 and 502 wickets respectively, the latter stood as a world record for 8 years before Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan overtook it in 2011.
- In 2001, Akram was voted by Wisden as the best ODI bowler of all-time, ahead of West Indian Joel Garner, Australian Glenn McGrath, fellow Pakistani Waqar Younis and South African Allan Donald.
- Was the Man-Of-The-Match in Pakistan's victory over England in the finals of the 1992 World Cup for scoring 33 runs and taking 3 wickets, including 2 in successive deliveries which is considered as the turning point of the match. Was also the highest wicket-taker of the tournament.
- Selected by ESPN as the 21st greatest cricketer of all-time in 2000.
- Represented Lancashire in English County Cricket for 10 years(1988-98).
- Originally wanted to be a left-arm spin bowler cum opening batsman.
- In 2013, Akram became the only Pakistani cricketer to be selected as a part of Wisden Cricketer's Almanac Dream XI on the 150th anniversary of the magazine's edition.
- Wisden Cricketer Of The Year, 1992.
- Was awarded Man-of-the-match in 17 tests, which equates to every sixth test of his career. Was also Man-of-the-match 22 times in ODIs, which is a considerable accomplishment owing to the fact that ODIs are mostly dominated by batsmen or at best by all-rounders.
- Despite their new ball partnership being regarded as one of the most effective in cricket history, Akram's relationship with counterpart Waqar Younis was very uneasy. While Younis blamed it on Akram being more interested in enhancing his own public relations, Wasim blamed Younis of being too single minded in his approach and occasionally even un-team man like.
- While he acknowledged learning the art of swing bowling under the tutelage of Imran Khan, Akram regarded Malcolm Marshall of the West Indies and Dennis Lillee of Australia as the greatest fast bowlers he ever saw.
- Amongst bowlers with at least 400 test scalps, Akram alongside James Anderson of England, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock of South Africa, Ravichandran Ashwin of India and Courtney Walsh of the West Indies are the only cricketers who never took 8 wickets or more in a single innings.
- Captained Pakistan to win the Asian Test Championship in 1998/99, beating Sri Lanka in the finals.
- Considers late New Zealand legend Martin Crowe as the greatest batsman he ever bowled to, adding that both began their careers at almost the same time and by the time both had established themselves, greats like Sir Vivian Richards and Sunil Gavaskar were approaching the end of their careers. In the midst of this period, Crowe was the best performing batsman against Akram's and Waqar Younis' reverse swing bowling, apart from having a sublime record when facing the full strength West Indian pace attack.
- Although his credentials prove he happens to be one of the greatest match winners in cricket history, 4 of Akram's 5 ten wicket hauls in tests came in losing causes.
- He was the bowling coach of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders for two successful seasons before taking a break to spend more time with his family.
- Controversially withdrew from the 1996 World Cup Quarter-Final against India at Bangalore at the last moment, which Pakistan lost. This incident, coupled with Pakistan's humiliating defeats to associate member team Bangladesh in the group stages and Australia in the finals of the 1999 World Cup, all under Akram's captaincy, raised questions if Akram had deliberately thrown away those matches in conjunction with bookies. However, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Justice Qayoom Investigation Committee.
- Held the record for most scalps in World Cups, taking 55 wickets in 38 appearances before being surpassed by Australian Glenn McGrath during the 2007 World Cup.
- Quite surprisingly for a player who has been regarded by most as arguably the greatest fast bowler in cricket history, Akram never topped the ICC's annual test bowler rankings. His peak ratings of 833 points in 1993 could ensure him only a 2nd place finish for the year.
- Despite being considered by most of the star batsmen through his prime years as the greatest fast bowler they ever witnessed, 66 of Akram's 414 test scalps averaged less than 10, approximately 16% of his tally. Also, shockingly the cumulative batting average of the 414 dismissed players was 26.91, lower than even inferior rated bowlers(by historians) like Kapil Dev and Sir Ian Botham.
- His bowling average of 24.69 is the best amongst players with 100 wickets or more in lost test matches.
- From his first stint as captain in 1992-93 till his final in 2002-03 just a few months before his retirement, Akram led Pakistan to win 7 of the 12 ODI tournament finals they featured in, despite the fact none of his 4 captaincy terms lasted more than 11 months. On the other hand, during the same period, Pakistan could win only 9 of the 24 ODI series finals they reached where Akram was playing as a specialist fast bowler rather than captain.
- Had the fourth highest wicket tally in the world during the 1990s with 289 scalps in 62 tests, the third best amongst pacers. His 166 wickets in 35 overseas tests was the highest while touring.
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