Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram is celebrating his 55th birthday on Thursday. On the special occasion, several past and present cricketers extended their greetings to the 'Swing King of Pakistan'. However, one wish that stood out from the plethora of messages on social media came from his wife Shaniera Akram. Shaniera on Thursday used Twitter to express how grateful she is to have Wasim Akram in her life. She wished Akram on his special day by posting an adorable snap of them sharing a beautiful moment. "Happy birthday to the love of my life. A man that proves that age really is just a number," the caption read.
Veteran Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis extended his unique birthday wish by sharing a caricature of them. "Many happy returns of the day, Partner. Live long, live happy and live healthy," the post read.
Shoaib Akhtar, former Pakistan seamer, wrote, "Happy Birthday, Sultan of Swing. My first captain, Wasim Akram. Enjoy your quarantine birthday with lots of video calls."
The International Cricket Council (ICC) celebrated the occasion by sharing a short clip from the 1992 World Cup final between Pakistan and England. Akram picked three wickets in the match as Pakistan defeated England to take the WC trophy home. "Birthday boy, Wasim Akram took 916 international wickets for Pakistan. Three of his most important came in the 1992 Cricket World Cup final," it read.
"414 Test wickets at 23.62, 502 ODI wickets at 23.52, 31 international five-wicket hauls, 1992 World Cup winner, Happy birthday," ICC wrote in another tweet.
Pakistan Cricket Board also extended warm birthday greetings to the "Sultan of Swing". "916 international wickets, 6,615 runs, four hat-tricks in international cricket, 1992 World cup winner, Happy birthday to the Sultan of Swing, Wasim Akram," the caption read.
Akram has bagged four hat-tricks in international cricket. He has picked 414 and 502 wickets in Tests and ODIs from 104 and 356 games, respectively.
The biggest moment in his career came in 1992 when Pakistan lifted their first-ever World Cup trophy under Imran Khan's captaincy.