Hailed as the Rawalpindi express, Shoaib Akhtar, turns 49 years old, today. The Pakistan bowler is counted among the most fearsome bowlers the cricket world has ever seen.
During his prime, he was capable of sending chills down the spine of any batter. Besides delivering memorable spells on the field, he often made headlines for his endless list of controversies. He had great relationships with his peers but had a little unusual way of showing affection. And, sometimes, it had negative effects.
A lot of cricketers were afraid of messing with Shoaib Akhtar. In a BBC podcast, Shoaib Akhtar revealed that how he accidently hurt Yuvraj Singh’s back and Shahid Afridi’s rib.
In a hilarious incident, he recalled how he once hurt Yuvraj Singh, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzaq by either tossing or embracing them too forcefully. Akhtar said that while his “wild” approach of showing love was too dramatic, it was never intended to hurt anyone.
“I don’t wrestle, it’s my way of showing my affection to other people, and I basically crossed the line. When I like someone, I throw them. I broke Yuvraj’s back, have previously broken Shahid Afridi’s rib by hugging him, and I made Abdul Razzaq stretch his hamstring a bit too much. So my way of loving people is a bit wild. It was just me being stupid in my younger days, but I never realised my own power,” Akhtar said on BCC’s Doosra Podcast.
Shoaib Akhtar holds the record of fastest delivery bowled in cricket’s history
Shoaib Akhtar often talked about how he wanted to bowl as fast he can. He took a run up that no other fast bowler could ever match. Running with his long hair popping in and out was a sight enough to terrify even the greatest of the batters. Akhtar bowled the fastest delivery in cricket’s history when he cloaked a delivery at 161.3 kmph against England in the 2003 ODI World Cup.
The Pakistan fast bowler was known for terrifying the batters with his fierce pace and aggressive persona. During his career, he had injured numerous great batters like Brian Lara, Garry Kirsten etc. Akhtar struggled with a lot of injuries in this period, primarily due to his bowling action. However, his strong will power and determination helped him finish the career with 247 wickets in ODIs and 178 wickets in Tests.
