Pakistan's all-time ODI XI

Pace bowlers

#8 Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram was a champion bowler and a handy batsman

If some followers of Pakistani cricket felt no qualms about the future of their team's pace bowling when the great Imran Khan called it quits after the historic World Cup triumph in 1992, they were justified in feeling so. In the form of Wasim Akram, they already had a deadly bowler destined for greatness. Akram was also the hero of the World Cup and took 3/49 in the final, blowing the wind out of England's sails. He took over the mantle of leadership from Imran and went on to become a legend himself.

When he had the ball in his hand, Akram unleashed magic in a way no other bowler could. Yorkers, slower deliveries, bouncers, inswingers, outswingers - Akram bowled them all with great skill. He possessed tremendous variety and his bag of tricks was large enough to fetch him a whopping 502 wickets in 356 matches.

Considering his wizardry with the ball, it is fitting that Akram holds the record for being the first bowler to breach the 500 wicket mark in ODIs. No other bowler except Muttiah Muralitharan bettered his tally. Who better than this genius to spearhead our fearsome pace attack? Akram can also whack the ball in the death overs, which is a bonus.

#9 Waqar Younis

In his heyday, Waqar Younis was a destructive force

The selection of Waqar Younis is a no-brainer. People often say that fast bowlers often hunt in pairs and the 'Wasim-Waqar' duo was one of the deadliest in the entire history of the game. Waqar was more expensive than Akram but was a better wicket-taker. Along with Akram, he terrorised the batsmen throughout the 1990s in all parts of the world.

He was capable of bowling at tremendous pace and when it came to delivering yorkers, he was second to none. The very mention of Waqar's name brings to mind countless images of searing yorkers that crushed the batsmen's toes or sent their stumps cartwheeling.

He became the fastest to take 300 ODI wickets at the time and only Brett Lee later reached the mark in fewer matches. Overall, he bagged 416 wickets in just 262 matches. He grabbed 13 five-wicket hauls in his ODI career, which is three more than what the second-placed Muttiah Muralitharan could manage after playing almost a hundred matches more than Waqar!

You can't argue with the selection of a bowler who took wickets at such an astonishing rate.

#10 Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar's red-hot pace was too hot to handle

The duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis was so dominant throughout the 1990s that many talented pacers remained in their shadows and struggled for regular opportunities. But Shoaib Akhtar's extreme pace made him a sensation right from the time he entered the international arena, earning him a secure place in the Pakistani pace battery alongside Wasim and Waqar.

Shoaib ran in from an incredibly long distance and regularly clocked speeds in excess of 145 kmph. On many occasions, he beat the best of batsmen with sheer pace. Needless to say, he was famous for bowling toe-crushing yorkers that made the batsmen hop on their toes.

Shoaib had a plethora of disciplinary issues and was often labelled the 'bad boy of Pakistan cricket'. His bowling action too came under intense scrutiny. But when he was fit and on song, he swept the batting line-ups away like a hurricane. He might have fallen short of achieving the tag of 'great' in international cricket, but he has accomplished enough to merit a place in this team.