Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis: Who was the better ODI bowler?

There have been a lot of great fast bowlers from Pakistan. Arguably, Pakistan has been the country to produce some of the most fearsome fast bowlers in the history of cricket. Among these fast-bowling legends of the game, the two who stand out are Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. In this article, we will look at who the better ODI bowler was, Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis. We have already done a comparison between the two in tests.

‘The King of Swing’ and ‘The Toe Crusher’ were almost unplayable during their time in cricket. Both Wasim and Waqar have numerous records to their name. Wasim and Waqar together often hunted as a pair and were nightmares for the opposition batters. When playing together, Wasim and Waqar took 588 wickets which is the most for fast bowling duos and rank third overall behind Muttiah Muralitharan-Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan-Sanath Jayasuriya.

Wasim Akram in ODIs

Arguably the greatest left-arm bowler was a great weapon to the Pakistani bowling attack in the 1980s and 1990s. Wasim Akram has the second-most wickets in ODIs and has the most for any pacer. With 502 wickets to his name, it is not a surprise that ‘The King of Swing’ has many other records to his name. 

Akram has the second most wickets in an ODI career falling just behind Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 534 wickets. He was so lethal in attacking the stumps that he has the most bowled dismissals (176), LBW (92), caught by wicketkeeper (93 )and also has the joint-most hit-wicket dismissals (3). 

Akram was one of the best performers for his team in World Cups. The left-arm pacer took 55 wickets in 36 innings in the ODI World Cup. 18 of these 55 wickets came in the 1992 World Cup which helped the Imran Khan-led side to lift the trophy for the first time.

But why was Akram so successful in the ODI format? The left-arm pacer had mastered the art of swinging the ball both ways with the new ball. With just one ball used in ODIs earlier, reverse swing was a prominent factor in any team’s success. Akram just like with the new ball swing was also great with the old ball and reverse swing.

Waqar Younis in ODIs

In a time when swinging the ball and bowling bodyline deliveries at the batters was the norm, Waqar Younis redefined bowling. Younis was aptly given the nickname, ‘The Toe Crusher’ as he used to full-length deliveries at high speeds. These speedy deliveries were almost enough to crush the toes of the opposition batters. 

Younis has the third most wickets in ODI history behind Wasim and Muralitharan. He still holds the record for the most fifers (13) and four-fers (27) in ODIs. Younis also has the joint record for taking the most consecutive fifers and four-fers in ODIs.

Waqar still holds the record for the fastest player to take 400 ODI wickets. ‘The Toe Crusher’ has the second most wickets via bowled (151 )and LBW (73) falling just behind Wasim. Waqar also holds the record for dismissing a single batter the most times in ODIs. Younis dismissed the Sri Lankan great, Sanath Jayasuriya 13 times in 45 matches.

Just like Akram, Waqar too was great at swinging the ball. Waqar bettered Akram at swinging the ball as the right-arm pacer could bowl these deliveries at a higher pace and even had the ability to move the ball late.

Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis: Who was the better ODI bowler?

There is no doubt that ‘The Two W’s’ are great bowlers and choosing the better ODI bowler between them is a tough task. Wasim has more wickets, longevity, bowling average and economy while Waqar’s lethality speaks for him and is evident with his impressive strike rate of 30.52. Wasim pips Waqar as the better ODI bowler because of the amount of wickets he took and his longevity. But it comes without any question that there will be hardly any all-time ODI XI which will not feature the duo.