Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram bowled to a lot of legendary batsmen during his playing days from the mid 1980's to the early 2000's. Not only did Akram just swing the ball both ways but also managed to trouble almost all the greats of the game and is also popularly known as the ‘Sultan of Swing’.

The left-arm quick had a lot of battles with legendary batters like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting on the field. From being rivals to competitors off the field to today being on friendly terms with these legends, Akram shared about the bond he shares with these players.

“World-wide I have remained friends with a lot of players. When I go to Australia, Shane Warne lives near my place so I meet him often. I have maintained touch with Brian Lara over the phone. I recently wished Sachin Tendulkar. So, we get in touch,” Akram said on the Khelo Aazadi Se Show on BSports Pakistan YouTube Channel.

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“When we meet, we greet each other properly and recall the old times, old tales, the battles we had. And we all have a good laugh. We all have had some fabulous moments together. Sachin, Brian Lara, myself, Jacques Kallis, Inzamam from Pakistan, Saeed Anwar. I'm in touch with these players,” he added.

The 55-year-old then talked about what was his mindset during his playing days when he used to bowl to some of these legendary batsmen.

“I just knew that we had to get him out. My mantra was to keep attacking the top players of the world, keep pressure on him. If you put pressure on the captain or the main player, the entire team could crumble so that used to be my plan,” Akram said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator represented Pakistan in 104 Tests and 356 ODIs with 414 and 502 wickets respectively.