Sultan : A Memoir

By Wasim Akram| Gideon Haigh

About the book

For twenty years, Wasim Akram let his cricket do the talking – with his electrifying left-arm pace, his explosive striking as a batsman, and his inspirational leadership. For another twenty years, he kept his own counsel about his cricketing days – full of drama, controversy and even mystery – in a country, Pakistan, that to outsiders is a constant enigma.

Sultan tells the story of cricket’s greatest left-arm bowler, and one of its enduring survivors, who was chosen from the streets of Lahore and groomed by Imran Khan to become champion of the world – he was Man of the Match in the final of the 1992 World Cup which Pakistan won. Along the way were unforgettable rivalries with the legends of his time, from Viv Richards and Ian Botham to Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. All of this against a backdrop of conspiracy and intrigue over ball tampering and match-fixing, about which Wasim finally sets the story straight.

Sultan provides an unprecedented insight into the life – both on and off the field – of a cricketer who revolutionized the sport with his speed and swing, and a patriot buoyed and burdened by the expectations of one of the game’s most fanatical publics.