Mitchell Starc: “Wasim Akram’s still a far better bowler than I am. So as far as I’m concerned he’s still the pinnacle of left-armers and certainly right up there with bowlers to ever play the game”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc insists legendary Pakistan swing king Wasim Akram is “still a far better bowler than I am”, even after overtaking him as the most successful left-arm fast bowler in Test history.
Starc views Wasim as the “pinnacle of left-armers”, crediting his unparalleled achievements across formats.
Nicknamed the Sultan of Swing, the 59-year-old from Lahore featured in 104 Tests for Pakistan and took 414 wickets at an average of 23.62.
He is also the second-highest wicket-taker in ODI history as he claimed 502 wickets in 356 matches at an average of 23.52.
“I’ll reflect on it later, Wasim Akram’s still a far better bowler than I am. So as far as I’m concerned he’s still the pinnacle of left-armers and certainly right up there with bowlers to ever play the game. So it’s nice to be spoken of up around that, but I’ll just try and keep churning a few out,” Starc was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Pakistan team are currently playing in the 2026 T20 World Cup, where they have progressed to the Super Eight after winning three matches – against Netherlands, United States of America, and Namibia – and losing just one, which came against India.
Pakistan’s next game will be a Super Eight fixture against New Zealand on February 21 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq