Sultan - The Wasim Akram Story
Ghostwriter Gideon Haigh and Wasim Akram, combine to form an incredible duo just like the 2Ws (Wasim and Waqar) did in the 90s. And the output is a lovely book very much worth your time!
As a cricket fan who started watching in the late 90s, I saw the tail end of left-arm pacer Wasim Akram’s career. He was past his peak and had to work through a number of injuries, and even then he bowled some magical spells and to my (and Indian fans) frustration, some of these were against my favorite batters, like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Despite all the magic I had seen Wasim Akram produce, I always had a sense of suspicion due to the allegations of match-fixing. To get more clarity on the champion cricketer and a sense of curiosity about his honesty about everything that happened, I was tempted to read the book, Sultan: A Memoir. Of course, it’s an added bonus that the ghostwriter is none other than the fantastic Gideon Haigh.
Honesty and writing style
First things first, I found Sultan to be a brutally honest book. Wasim Akram was pretty candid about the people he didn’t like or rate. As an example, early in the book, he doesn’t hide the fact that he didn’t rate Ramiz Raja as a slip fielder.
“For all his batting skill, Ramiz was at slips for reasons of rank, because his father was a commissioner because and he’d attended Aitchison College - he dropped more than he caught, frankly.”
Similarly, he didn’t care for Saleem Malik’s attitude, his roommate on his 1st tour of New Zealand. Akram admits that even though Malik was just 21 at the time, he was very negative and treated him like a servant. In fact, his honesty is not limited to his opinion of others, but even his own habits whether that’s his parenting style early on, or the cocaine addiction that he developed post his playing career.
One odd thing about this book is that it comes nearly 20 years after Akram’s last game of international cricket in 2003. I wonder if he could have been as honest had he written it immediately after his career when he had a lot more to lose.
In terms of writing style, the book is pretty well balanced in terms of what’s written by the cricketer versus the ghostwriter. It’s not like Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography which talks plainly about almost every match/series (and honestly bores you). At the same time, the book is not too flowery so it doesn’t feel unnatural that a cricketer could be saying it.
Favorite anecdotes
The best part about a cricket autobiography is all the stories that we as fans miss out on. There are a number of fantastic stories that Wasim shares but there is one that’s quite revealing.
Playing in his 1st ODI, captain Zaheer Abbas tossed the ball to Wasim Akram in the final over to defend 24 runs and asked him to bowl a yorker. The young southpaw had never heard that term and was too shy to ask what it meant and kept bowling length. Pakistan did eventually win (by just 5 runs) but would you have imagined that the bowler who terrorized the world’s top batters with his fast and swinging yorkers, didn’t even know what that ball was called? From being just a talented pendu (meaning villager in his own words) to a world-class operator with 900+ international wickets - what an incredible journey it has been for the man from Lahore.
On a lighter note, the following anecdote from West Indies touring Pakistan in the late 90s is surely going to make you chuckle.
Two of Courtney Walsh’s bats were stolen in Rawalpindi. Walsh was very displeased and asked for a meeting with the police chief. Wasim didn’t care for all this commotion and told him, “Courtney man, I love you, but use someone else’s bat. Your highest test score is 1.” Walsh replied, “No man, the weight is perfect, the pickup is perfect and I have the grips just like I like it.” Eventually, his bats were retrieved prior to the test match and Walsh ended up making a pair.
The key relationships
To anyone who has followed Wasim’s career, it will be no surprise that the man who comes out looking the best is none other than his mentor and hero, Imran Khan. Right from the first time he saw Imran, Wasim adored Imran, his style, his wit, his charisma as well as his on-field ability. Having realized Wasim’s potential quickly, Imran took him under his wing and made him his personal project. Wasim would consult Imran for everything, from reverse swing (which Imran taught him) to what ball to bowl when. Wasim could never see anything wrong in what Imran did. In fact, even after Imran had retired and started his political career, Wasim would call him up and ask for suggestions. There’s little doubt that they share a special fondness for each other which has continued even to this date.
The legendary batter Javed Miandad was the other mentor from Wasim’s early career. In Wasim’s words, Javed Miandad is a know-it-all. Under Miandad’s captaincy, when Wasim mentioned he couldn’t play, the skipper didn’t believe him and assumed he was doing this due to his loyalty to Imran. Miandad is also painted as a money-minded person, looking to make more money at any opportunity, even when he came back as a coach. And yet, there appears to be a sense of respect for Javed for the initial grooming that the Karachi man provided.
The 2Ws (Wasim and Waqar) were a constant source of worry for me when India played Pakistan in the late 90s and early 2000s. And yet, that is one relationship we hear very little about. Wasim mentions that he had noticed Waqar in a domestic tournament and recommended him to Imran, but once Waqar become established, there was jealousy and infighting as he tried to push his way toward the captaincy. While on the field, they feed off each other’s success constantly, Wasim and Waqar weren’t very close off the field. In recent times, the two have appeared on the Pakistani Cricket Show The Pavilion and it appears they have good camaraderie but barely anything is mentioned in the book despite the fact that it was written in 2021-22.
Suresh Raina (in his autobiography) also shared how county cricket in England is a very family-like atmosphere, where everyone chipped in with the duties and they were also roommates. This helps many budding cricketers become really close to their county mates and Wasim Akram was no different. His bond with Manchester is not just because they spend significant time there, but also what they did for him. They signed him for a record 6 years and even flew his entire family from Pakistan to England to celebrate his 21st birthday with him. He bonded with the players but also the administrators and continues to spend time in England each summer.
Match-fixing allegations
Growing up, I had read some small version of Justice Qayyum’s verdict. While Saleem Malik looked clearly guilty, there wasn’t a lot of clarity on the involvement of Wasim Akram. A couple of years later, an interview by Justice Qayyum came on, where he mentioned that he had a soft corner for Wasim Akram. With my incredible (sarcasm!) analytical skills at the time, I assumed Wasim Akram was guilty but had gotten away with it due to his stature.
Reading the chapters dedicated to the match-fixing scandal, that judgment could not seem off by a bigger margin. In fact, as I searched stories or reports on the verdict, it became clear that there was no conclusive evidence to support anything, just one man’s word against another. Wasim maintained his relationship with a close childhood friend who tried to benefit from him - that’s all we can say definitely.
Rashid Latif and Aamer Sohail come out looking a lot worse with unsubstantiated claims at random times, and other tricks to try and impress Justice Qayyum. Whether Wasim Akram was ever approached or considered taking money - we will never know, but what’s clear is that the Pakistani camp was set up in such an unprofessional manner that if they lost a session or a game, even some of the managers or coaches would just assume it was match-fixing.
At the beginning of the 2003 WC as an example, PCB Chief General Tauqir Zia appointed said ‘So if you don’t win, I have proof that you are match-fixers.” The fact that Pakistan cricket did as well as they did in Wasim’s career with shady characters and unstable administrators who barely trusted them, is in fact a testament to their ability and determination.
Wrap-up
A lot has changed since Wasim hung up his boots back in 2003. As an example, English county cricket had lost its money and importance and the IPL and T20 Cricket have taken over. And yet the lives of top cricketers today have many similarities to Wasim Akram’s back in the day. We constantly see players talking about too much cricket today. Back in 1989-90, Pakistan played 11 ODIs in 19 days across 7 Indian cities.
Similarly, Wasim Akram was appointed captain with no real experience at the domestic level (although captains today play a much smaller role with specialist coaches and data analysts). Luckily for today’s players and the fans, the level of professionalism has gone up significantly. While subcontinental teams still have a sense of hierarchy, there is definitely a better understanding of the process and much lesser infighting. The current Pakistan team, for comparison, is well united behind Babar Azam even when former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed gets picked again.
While some of the infighting was pretty well known at the time, the fact that the book explores a number of tougher topics such as his 1st wife's death, cocaine addiction, and the match-fixing saga shows that Wasim’s attempt to open up was sincere. Overall, Haigh and Akram combine to form an incredible duo just like the 2Ws (Wasim and Waqar) did in the 90s. And the output is a lovely book very much worth your time!