Viv Richards was standing shirtless with a bat in his hand: When Wasim Akram’s sledging angered the great man

Former left-arm pacer Wasim Akram has bowled several memorable spells, but one in particular he won’t remember fondly is against Viv Richards of the once-mighty West Indies. Akram, during a video chat, revealed how bowling well to Richards pumped him up to an extent that he minced a few words to the batsman, which did not go down too well with Richards.

The incident took place during the third Test of Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies in 1987-88, and even after all these years, Akram considers himself lucky to have narrowly escaped the wrath of Richards.

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“He would have hit me a lot in 1988. He was a muscular guy and I was very skinny. It was the last over of the match and I was bowling at a good pace. I had realised by then that I have become fast. Viv Richards realised I was a difficult bowler and thought I have a quick-arm action. I bowled a bouncer at him and his cap fell down. Someone like Viv Richards dropping his cap was a big deal,” Akram told Aakash Chopra.

“There used to be no match referee back then and I went up to him and sledged in him in my broken English. He spat after staring at me and said ‘don’t do this man’. I understood nothing but just the man word. I said ‘ok, no worries’ and went to my captain Imran Khan and told him that Richards is asking me not to abuse him , or else he’ll beat me up. Imran told me not to worry and bowl him bouncers. I bowled him a bouncer and abused him after he ducked. On the last ball of the day I bowled an in-swinger and he was bowled. I even went up to him and gave him a good send off, shouting things like ‘go back and all’”.

And that is what led Akram to almost draw the wrath of Richards. After going back to their respective dressing room at the end of the day’s play, as a tired Akram was taking off his shoes, he was asked by a guy firmly to come out. As it turned out, Richards was waiting to give Akram a piece of his mind, but the left-armer was quick to apologise and Richards opted to forgive him.

“When I went out I saw Viv Richards standing without his shirt. He was sweating and having his bat in his hand, he also had his pads on. I got scared and ran back to Imran Khan. I told him that Viv Richards was waiting for me with a bat in his hand. Imran Khan told ‘what should I do. It’s your fight, go and handle it’. I went out and told him sorry. I told him that nothing of this sort will happen again and he said you better not, I will kill you. My street smartness worked for me then,” Akram said.