Before Imran left, he had mentored Wasim Akram to be his successor. Akram later moved on to become one of best bowler in the world and was known as "Sultan of Swing". Wasim led Pakistan in WC '96, which was hosted by Pakistan, and the '99 WC, hosted by England. Pakistan failed to defend its title in '96 and suffered a miserable loss to Australia in the final of '99 WC also under Akram's captaincy.
Cricketing experts often cite Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as the best bowling pair in the history of the game. But just like Akram, Younis too was unable to lead Pakistan to glory when handed the reins before the 2003 World Cup. For the first in the history of the event, Pakistan failed to progress past the first round.
