Shaoib Akhtar Biography
Shoaib Akhtar is a former professional cricketer who played
testes and One Day International matches for the Pakistan national team in ICC
organized events. He has been dubbed as The Rawalpindi Express after the place
where he was born and he is arguably the fastest bowler the world of cricket
has ever seen, easily clocking 150 km/hour on many occasions. He became the
first man to bowl a delivery over 100 miles/hour or 161.3 km/hour, which is the
fastest delivery ever bowled in the history of cricket against England.
Moreover, not only did he achieve a speed of 100 miles/hour on his delivery, he
achieved it twice during one single match and that is something that makes him
very unique in the world of fast bowlers. His prowess lay in being able to bowl
fast and precise Yorkers as well as quick bouncers and these abilities made him
one of the greatest as well as most feared bowlers of all time, the likes of
which had not been seen in international cricket since the times of Michael
Holding, Joel Garner, Jeff Thompson, Dennis Lillie, Malcolm Marshall and the
likes – players who depended on raw pace to pick up wickets.
However, Shoaib Akhtar was also a very controversial figure
and it followed him wherever he went. It has been said that he was very selfish
and not a team man. The Pakistan team management once sent him home from
Australia in the middle of a series because of an alleged poor behavior on his
part. In 2006, he was perhaps involved in the biggest controversy when WADA
found Shoaib Akhtar guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs and the ICC
banned him from playing cricket. This ban was however lifted and he returned to
the Pakistan national side the following year and almost immediately, got
himself banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board or the PCB for fighting with team
mate and fellow opening bowler Mohammad Asif during a training session.
He was selected to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders for
the inaugural IPL but injuries blighted his season and he played only a handful
of matches. Akhtar was so injury prone that he only managed to play a total of
46 tests and 163 One Day Internationals in his 12 year international career,
taking a total of 425 wickets in all. Shoaib Akhtar, in spite of all his short
comings, is truly a legend of the game and no matter what happens, cricket will
always remember this flamboyant star.
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
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Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
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