Former Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene, has named legendary Pakistani pacer, Wasim Akram, as the toughest bowler he faced throughout his career.
While speaking to ICC's digital show, The ICC Review, Jayawardene stated that Wasim Akram was by far the best bowler he faced in his career. He added that it did not matter what time of the day it was, Akram always used to bring his best to the table.
"I made my debut when it was his [Akram's] peak or the backend of his career. He had a really quick-arm action and he had the ability to beat you any time of the day," Jayawardene said while speaking on ICC's digital show.'
The 45-year-old praised Akram's ability to make the ball talk and he further added that pitch conditions became irrelevant when it came to the legendary left-arm pacer and he could pose problems to any batter and not just him.
Jayawardene scored just short of 26,000 runs on the international stage across all three formats but he remained humble while praising Wasim Akram. The right-arm batter added that one of the reasons why Akram was so difficult to play was because of his ability to swing the ball both ways irrespective of whether it was the new ball or the old one.
"He [Akram] would run-in with the same intensity at the end of the second day’s play as he would at the first ball of the match," he added.