His wife Shaniera wished him on his 'quarantine birthday'.
He went onto play 104 Tests and 356 ODIs for Pakistan picking 414 and 502 wickets respectively. He also has two hat-tricks each in ODIs and Tests and made 2898 runs in Tests with a best of 257* and 3717 runs in ODIs with 6 half-centuries.
Wasim Akram responds after Andrew Flintoff thanks him for impact on his life and career
Akram was the Man of the final in Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup victory over England and led the team to finals in the 1999 World Cup in England. He retired after 2003 World Cup after becoming the first bowler to pick 500 plus wickets in ODI format.
On his birthday, Akram received a lovely wish from his Australian wife Shaniera, who called it a ‘quarantine birthday’.
"Happy Birthday. @wasimakramlive.I have cleared my schedule for the unforeseeable future. I won't be meeting anyone, going to salons, seeing friends or leaving the house unnecessarily. I'm literally going stop all social activities just to spend quality time with you #QuarantineBday," Shaniera wrote on social media.
However, Wasim refused to add one more year to his age, given that he has spent most of 2020 inside his home and hence decided to remain 53 for one more year.
"Thank you everyone for all my birthday messages, I've spent almost a quarter of this year in quarantine so I really don't think it's fair to count this birthday, so I have decided to remain 53 for one more year. It's only fair," Wasim Akram said.
Akram's first wife Huma died in 2009 after multiple organ failure. Akram said after his marriage that Shaniera had embraced Islam and had been close to his sons. "She has embraced Islam and is learning our language. She has been close to my sons and they form a very good bond," Akram had told AFP.