Akram was one of modern cricket's best entertainers

Alas, we must take Wasim Akram's retirement as confirmed. The mercurial all-rounder has been fairly unpredictable in this matter for a few years now, but since he has reiterated his decision to quit twice in the same week, it is highly unlikely we will see him play at the international level again. Few modern cricketers have played the game so well or provided so much entertainment.Akram could bowl fast splaying wickets and crushing toes all over the world; he could wield the bat like a lumberjack frequently sending the ball into the stands or out of the ground; and he was a superb outfielder with a missile like throw that wicketkeepers would remember at bed time. That he was an exceptional talent was apparent since his debut in 1984-85. The debate over the next 18 years has been whether he was the finest left-arm fast bowler of all time; indeed the best fast bowler ever. Since such debates are never conclusive (unless they involve Bradman or Sobers), we should let that be, but enough evidence is readily available to establish Akram as the most dangerous fast bowler of his time. Ask the top 10 batsmen of the last 20 years — including Gavaskar, Gooch, Richards, Border, Tendulkar, Lara and Steve Waugh — and at least seven will confirm that he was the best they had faced. Ask 10 tailenders, and there will be no dissenting voice at all. With old ball or new, Akram was lethal. Batting against him was like playing in a pit full of vipers. Danger lurked everywhere, every delivery. He could swing the ball in and away, and so late that the best batsmen would be seduced into indiscretion. He could bowl seam up, or run his fingers across the stitches to bowl off and leg cutters. A whippy action helped him disguise pace better than most. He could bowl a torrid delivery off a few paces or a slower one off 12; a yorker or a bouncer with no noticeable change in grip or approach to the wicket. He had incredible variety, perhaps a dozen different types of deliveries, which made it impossible for any batsman to relax against him. This great game has had hundreds of players but only a handful of match-winners. Akram finds preeminent location in the latter category. He could turn a match on its head in one brilliant spell of bowling, often with a couple of deliveries. In the 1991-92 World Cup, he had Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis with successive deliveries and Pakistan's triumph was assured. At Bangalore against India in 1987, on a dustbowl where spinners ruled, he produced two successive unplayable deliveries to bag Srikkanth and Amarnath and Pakistan took control of the Test and the series. Akram's alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal dimmed the luster a tad, but he showed resilience by returning from a brief ban with a protest on his lips and the penchant for cricket intact. He was not a quitter for sure. So how does one classify him? Ravi Shastri frequently referred to him as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this generation. I suspect he was a genius too.