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‘Had I been the fittest, I would’ve been the greatest ever’: Shoaib Akhtar

Rana said:
Probably not the greatest but he was a big wicket taker

Game changer for sure
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He was mostly ****** out of his head and wasted his career. I am not sure why the introspection, we said it back when he played. He would eat and drink to excess, then use drugs to lose his weight and this caused injuries.
 
Happy Birthday!

P.S. He was fit in the 2003 WC match against India when he went, 'Mere se bowling nahin ho rahi hain'.
 
Waiting for the day when we hear about this from McMillan.

He faced Mohammad Zahid aswell at Under 19 level not sure about Int Cricket.

Zahid said that he was touring New Zealand with the Pakistan u19 team back in 1995 and he was still a few months away from turning 19. Pakistan played a couple of test matches and some one day games on that tour. During one of the match the venue was fitted with speed guns and he clocked 100mph on the speed gun a few times. No other bowler was getting close to that speed and it even made the papers the next day. Zahid still has some newspaper clippings at his home.

PP should ask Zahid to share those news clippings in his next blog on PP.


Zahid says that after that he bowled his fastest in the warm up game against visiting new Zealand side before his test debut.
 
Shoaib is on record where he had admitted multiple times that Zahid was a yard quicker than him. Also my assesment is that Zahid's point of release was closest to batsman if we compare that to Lee, Tait, Bond, Sami or Shoaib so the ball had to travel less to reach the batsman. Hence faster through the Air. This Point needs to be verified with Side On visuals and is debatable.
 
Hitman said:
Happy Birthday!

P.S. He was fit in the 2003 WC match against India when he went, 'Mere se bowling nahin ho rahi hain'.
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He's not a bad bowler. He's pretty good in whiteball but poor in red ball.

However he is overrated by fans and he got into alot of controversy by stating claims about Lara, Sachin, Ponting, Kallis and many other legends that they feared him when in reality they didn't fear him.

They kinda owned him, Again not an insult, as these guys are honestly the best of the best, they owned most, but Akhtar acts like he's on the level of Mcgrath or Marshall.
 
One of the greatest ever to do it; with no express quicks anymore his legacy is elevated each day. To bowl as quick as he did and have as long a career as he did; relative to 90% of other bowlers who bowled at a similar pace, reinforces his greatness. And that’s not even taking into account that he was a modern pioneer of the sport.
 
“He has lost both of his knees. He can’t even walk properly now. But for 14–15 years, Shoaib Akhtar kept running in from outside the 30-yard circle and bowled at 150 kmph"

“That kind of madness… only he had it. No one else can do what he did. No one has come, and no one will come, who can bowl like him in these conditions. I guarantee it.”


View attachment ssstwitter.com_1759734718152.mp4
 
This is no lie!

Pace, swing, reverse swing, bouncer, yorker and slower balls - the man was the full package

If he was more disciplined and serious about his cricketing career, he would have been the GOAT
 
rpant_gabba said:
if he was such a fighter, he would have fought to stay fit.
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He used to run long distance and he was a proper athletes with very bad discipline. Didn't control his smoking habits and after a certain age it catches up with you.
 
Shoaib was good in patches. Average otherwise. He was superb in '99 World Cup until he came across Klusener in Super Six match. He came back to form in 2002 in 3rd Super Challenge series match at the Gabba, he destroyed Australian top order single handedly. His 5 wickets in the same year vs New Zealand were some of last lethal spells he bowled. He troubled Aussies yet again in 2004-05 test series in Australia. Shoaib wasn't the same bowler after 2004-05.
 
It wasn't just poor fitness but also indiscipline.

He was a total loose cannon in his prime and he often brushes that part off. There were times he was healthy enough but he was left dealing with off-the-field issues.

Just too much chaos around him despite him being a true entertainer when playing.
 
kingusama92 said:
It wasn't just poor fitness but also indiscipline.

He was a total loose cannon in his prime and he often brushes that part off. There were times he was healthy enough but he was left dealing with off-the-field issues.

Just too much chaos around him despite him being a true entertainer when playing.
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I still remember PCB issuing a statement about him missing a series due to genital warts!

Who was behing that press statement?
 
Ifs and buts again by a Pakistan former player. Even when Pakistan loses, the former players use this as an excuse, if we had not dropped this catch, if we had not missed that run out etc, but the point is, the game turns out a certain way because of those same reasons. Same with Akthar, his career turned up exactly how it was supposed to. Shoaib Akthar was an excellent bowler but had poor attitude for an international cricketer. It was a surprise that his career lasted as long as it did. Bowling fast wasn't an excuse as Brett Lee had a better career being as fast as Akthar. Fitness and attitude matters in cricket and Shoaib had neither. It was lucky for Pakistan that he actually played 47 Tests and 163 ODIs.
 
BouncerGuy said:
What more did you need from him???

That guy had no knees for years and used to take injections before every game...
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Perhaps he could have been a proper professional without humiliating his country due to his antics?
 
rpant_gabba said:
act like a grown up? you know, do things he needs to do as a professional cricketer first before all the extracurricular non-sense
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Yeah… he pulls some antics on TV these days. Not great for his reputation.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Yeah… he pulls some antics on TV these days. Not great for his reputation.
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He is retired now and free to enhance his market value as he sees fit. In playing days, his main job was show up ready to perform. In American leagues yo get shoved out of the team very quickly if you don't, even at high school level.
 
I feel Shoaib deeply regrets wasting his immense potential due to his indiscipline & lack of focus / work ethic. So he tries to cope by making all these excuses like fitness & dodgy knees

Bit of case of sour grapes. Fitness issues are much better consolation than accepting he screwed his career due to his poor temperament
 
RidiculousMan said:
I must say compared to some other ex cricketers. He's entertaining on TV. People still watch him and share his comments
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Of all the ex-cricketers from Pakistan I've seen, I think Misbah and more recently, Mohammed Aamir are well balanced in their critique and comments.

Shoaib Akhtar is a diva on TV. He was also a diva in his playing days -- always craving for attention.

He was blockbuster, when on song, no doubt, but his antics leave/left a bad taste, more often than not.
 
He is right about his appalling fitness. He destroyed the chance to go down in history because he couldn't stay off the drink.
 
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