RAWALPINDI, Oct 12: An appropriate farewell would have been in front of his home crowd in Lahore. But the Rawalpindi fans on Sunday gave the great Wasim Akram a send off he would not quickly forget.

Following the fifth International at the Rawalpindi Stadium, Wasim was given a standing ovation by the fans as he came on to the field to receive his farewell gift.

Wasim, the only bowler in the world with 502 wickets in Internationals and also the first man to have achieved the double of over 400 wickets in both forms of the game, had retired from cricket after this year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Sunday’s match had been dedicated to Wasim, who played 356 One-day Internationals and 104 Tests, in a career spanning 19 years.

He said that Pakistani fans had always supported him. “Their encouragement and prayers helped me perform to the best of my ability for my country.”

Wasim was handed the keys of a brand new car as his farewell gift by Khalid Alvi, Director Marketing of Pepsi Cola International who had arranged the farewell.