A left-arm swing bowler taking three wickets to help win the World Cup for his team, and the player of the final award for himself, all at the MCG?
The portents from the World Cup of 30 years ago were supposed to favour Pakistan. And yet it was England who ultimately had the keenest resemblance to the Class of 1992.
Sam Curran might not have been favourably compared to the great Wasim Akram many times before.
But his contribution to England winning the 2022 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan was reminiscent of the “Sultan of Swing”.
He took 3-12 from four overs, sent down 15 balls, and took home the awards for both player of the final and the tournament.
Jos Buttler, England’s captain, termed Curran “a revelation”, and warned he is getting better all the time.
“I think he would take being compared to Wasim Akram, that is a pretty good rap,” Buttler said.
“He is a top performer. He is only going to get better and better as well. He is only a young man, but he already has a lot of experience in those shoulders.
“He always wants to ball. You tell him he is on, and he is already ready to bowl. I am just so pleased for him. He has got everything he deserves.
“He loves those crunch moments. He is a brilliant cricketer who is a deserved player of the tournament. We are so proud to have him in our team.”
While England were doubling up trophies, becoming the first side ever to hold both the T20 and ODI World Cups at the same time, Curran was becoming the star of his first World Cup.
The 24-year-old all-rounder had been injured when England became 50-over world champions on home soil in 2019.
“It has been a great tournament for us,” Curran said.
“We are going to enjoy this. It has been the first World Cup for me and we have won the tournament in front of any amazing crowd.
“Coming into this tournament, I wanted to be adaptable. I haven’t bowled at the death so much in my career.
“It is an area I always want to keep working at. I like to keep working on my batting but in this line up it is incredibly hard to get up there.
“I’m always looking to improve, but we are not thinking about that now – we are world champs.”
