Bumrah vs Wasim Akram vs Waqar Younis: Test and ODI Stats Compared

Jasprit Bumrah’s rise has forced a comparison that Pakistan cricket never expected to have — its two greatest pace legends measured against an Indian bowler still in the middle of his career. Shoaib Akhtar rejected the idea on live television within seconds. The numbers are considerably less certain.

This piece is not about a television moment. It is a structured look at what the statistics actually show when Bumrah, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are placed side by side across both Test and ODI cricket, with era context applied honestly and volume separated from efficiency so the reader can judge both.

Jasprit Bumrah – “I have seen alot of bowling of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in my childhood. Good words from them is a big compliment for me.” #CWC23

Jasprit Bumrah vs Wasim Akram vs Waqar Younis: Test Cricket

Test cricket is the format where the comparison carries the most weight, and where the numbers produce the most genuine debate among those who follow pace bowling closely.

Metric	Jasprit Bumrah	Wasim Akram	Waqar Younis
Matches / Innings	52 / 99	104 / 181	87 / 154
Wickets	234	414	373
Bowling Average	~19.8	23.62	23.56
Strike Rate (Balls/Wkt)	~42.8	54.6	43.4
Economy Rate	2.77	2.59	3.25
5-Wkt / 10-Wkt Hauls	16 / 0	25 / 5	22 / 5
Best Bowling (BBI)	6/27	7/119	7/76

Bumrah’s Test bowling average of approximately 19.8 is the lowest among the three, which in cricket means the best. His strike rate of 42.8 sits almost level with Waqar Younis at 43.4, a figure that was considered the gold standard for fast bowling penetration in Test cricket for the better part of two decades.

Where the Pakistani pair pull clear is in ten-wicket match hauls. Wasim took five across his career and Waqar matched that number, reflecting their ability to win Tests almost single-handedly across both innings. Bumrah has yet to take ten wickets in a match, and that remains the clearest gap at the highest level of the game.

Jasprit Bumrah vs Wasim Akram vs Waqar Younis: ODI Career Stats

The one-day format introduces an era variable that changes what the numbers mean before you even begin reading them.

Metric	Jasprit Bumrah	Wasim Akram	Waqar Younis
Matches / Innings	91 / 90	356 / 351	262 / 258
Wickets	151	502	416
Bowling Average	23.55	23.52	23.84
Strike Rate (Balls/Wkt)	31.1	36.2	30.5
Economy Rate	4.55	3.89	4.68
4-Wkt / 5-Wkt Hauls	6 / 2	17 / 6	14 / 13
Best Bowling (BBI)	6/19	5/15	7/36

Bumrah’s ODI bowling average of 23.55 is separated from Wasim Akram’s 23.52 by a margin so small it is effectively the same number across careers played in completely different eras of the format. His strike rate of 31.1 falls between the two Pakistani bowlers, which places him among the most wicket-taking fast bowlers per delivery in the history of 50-over cricket.

The economy rate difference is where the era gap becomes impossible to ignore. Wasim Akram bowled in conditions shaped by a single ball per innings, boundaries that were smaller in most venues, and team totals that rarely threatened 280.

Bumrah operates with two new balls from both ends, flat surfaces prepared for high scoring and batters who have been trained since childhood to attack from the very first over. Comparing the two economy rates without acknowledging those conditions is not analysis, it is arithmetic dressed up as insight.

Waqar Younis holds the all-time ODI record for five-wicket hauls with 13, a mark that has stood for years and may never be surpassed. Bumrah has taken two five-wicket hauls in the format. That distance reflects career length as much as anything else, but it is still a distance that exists.

Pace Bowling Efficiency: Removing Volume From the Equation

When you strip away matches played and wickets accumulated and look only at how often each bowler took a wicket and what it cost in runs, the picture shifts considerably in Bumrah’s favour.

Metric	Jasprit Bumrah	Wasim Akram	Waqar Younis
Test Bowling Average	~19.8	23.62	23.56
Test Strike Rate	~42.8	54.6	43.4
ODI Bowling Average	23.55	23.52	23.84
ODI Strike Rate	31.1	36.2	30.5

Bumrah leads or matches both Pakistani legends in three of the four cells above. His Test average is the best of the three by a clear margin. His ODI average is statistically identical to Wasim’s. His strike rate in both formats places him among the most penetrative pace bowlers the game has seen across any era.

This efficiency table is what gives the comparison its legitimacy. It is not sentiment, not television debate, and not national pride talking. It is the rate at which each bowler dismissed batters per delivery and per run conceded, measured consistently across formats. Those figures place Bumrah’s name alongside Wasim and Waqar in a way that is difficult to dismiss on purely statistical grounds.

Why Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis Remain in a Separate Category

Efficiency per match is one measure of greatness. Sustained excellence across fifteen years against every Test nation in every condition is a different measure entirely, and it is the one where Pakistan’s pace legends set a standard that Bumrah has not yet had the career to match.

Wasim Akram played 104 Tests and 356 ODIs, becoming the first bowler in cricket history to reach 500 wickets in the one-day format. He produced those numbers while captaining Pakistan through one of the most turbulent periods in the board’s history, while carrying a pace attack that had limited support at times and while performing at three World Cups including the 1992 victory where his spell in the final against England remains one of the finest in the tournament’s history.

Waqar Younis took 373 Test wickets at a strike rate that ranks among the five best ever recorded by a genuine fast bowler in the format. His reverse swing at high pace was the defining technical skill of 1990s international cricket and his 22 five-wicket hauls in Tests came against opponents who had no reliable answer to what he was doing with an old ball. He did this across the full span of a career, not in a peak window.

Bumrah is 30 years old and has played 52 Tests. He has not yet had the opportunity, or the years, to build what those two built. Volume across a long career is not padding. It is itself a form of greatness, representing the consistency and durability that separates good from legendary in any sport.

Shoaib Akhtar’s Verdict on Hasna Mana Hai

Shoaib Akhtar settled this question for himself before the television host had finished asking it.

Appearing on Geo TV’s Hasna Mana Hai with host Tabish Hashmi approximately four days ago, Akhtar was invited to comment on growing comparisons between Bumrah and Pakistan’s pace legends. His response was immediate and left no room for interpretation.

“No way! Shush! No, it’s not even a question, man. Who even brought this up?” he said, visibly irritated by the premise before the debate could take any shape.

When Hashmi mentioned the conversation had originated in India, Akhtar invoked both names directly. He stressed that his position was not formed from statistics or reputation alone, but from having watched Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis bowl at their absolute peak from the closest possible vantage point as a teammate and opponent across years of international cricket.

His praise for Bumrah was genuine and specific. He described the Indian pacer as one of the rarest talents in the modern game, an honest fast bowler who gives everything for his team and pushes his body to its limit in service of the side.

He spoke about Bumrah’s durability concerns with what sounded like real respect for what the workload costs a fast bowler physically.

Then he drew the line clearly. Bumrah is exceptional. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are something else. A man who shared dressing rooms and pitches with both Pakistani legends, who saw what they produced on days that do not always appear in career statistics, is perhaps better placed than any table of numbers to say where that line sits.

The Honest Verdict on This Comparison

Bumrah’s efficiency numbers already place him at the level of the two greatest fast bowlers Pakistan has produced. His Test average is better than both. His strike rate in Tests mirrors Waqar’s most closely of any active bowler. His ODI average is separated from Wasim’s by a fraction across careers played in completely different conditions.

What separates him from Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis is not a question of quality per delivery. It is a question of career, of sustained presence at the top of world cricket across fifteen years, of performances under pressure at World Cups and in series-deciding Tests against every nation in every condition. That body of work takes time to build, and Bumrah has not had the years to build it yet.

If he stays fit and continues bowling at this level for another six or seven years, the comparison becomes one of the most serious debates in the history of the game. Right now, the numbers confirm he belongs in the conversation. They do not confirm he has closed it.

Shoaib Akhtar would place that line even earlier. And he has seen all three of them bowl.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Bumrah’s Test bowling average compare to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis? Bumrah’s Test average of approximately 19.8 is lower than both Wasim Akram at 23.62 and Waqar Younis at 23.56. In bowling, a lower average is better, which means Bumrah’s per-wicket cost in Test cricket currently leads both Pakistani legends.

Why is Wasim Akram’s ODI economy rate so much better than Bumrah’s? Wasim Akram bowled in a different era of one-day cricket, with a single ball per innings, smaller boundaries in many grounds, and team totals that were far lower on average. Bumrah operates with two new balls, flat pitches and scoring rates that have increased significantly since the 1990s. A direct economy rate comparison across those two eras needs that context to be meaningful.

What did Shoaib Akhtar say about Bumrah on Hasna Mana Hai? Akhtar dismissed the comparison immediately on Geo TV’s Hasna Mana Hai, calling it not even a question. He praised Bumrah as one of the rarest talents in cricket while making clear that Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis occupy a place he does not consider comparable, based on firsthand experience of watching both bowl at their peak.

Who holds the record for most ODI five-wicket hauls among fast bowlers? Waqar Younis holds the all-time ODI record with 13 five-wicket hauls. Bumrah has taken two in the format, and Wasim Akram took six across his career.

Can Bumrah eventually be considered greater than Wasim and Waqar? On current efficiency metrics, Bumrah already matches or leads both in several categories. The gap is in career length and sustained performance across fifteen years at the highest level. If Bumrah continues at this standard for another six to seven years, the statistical case becomes one of the strongest debates in pace bowling history.