Captaincy never rested easily on Akram's shoulders, though he was a good leader of men. In January 1993, he was appointed to succeed Javed Miandad as Pakistan's captain, with pace partner Waqar Younis as his deputy.
He captained Pakistan several times before the 1998 allegations of matchfixing surfaced. Akram received death threats and was also temporarily banned from playing for the national side. In keeping with the Qayyum Commission report, he was never to be appointed captain of Pakistan again.