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[VIDEOS] How do you rate Shoaib Akhtar as a bowler?

How do you rate Shoaib Akhtar as a bowler?

  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .
MenInG

MenInG

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In the news nowadays not for his bowling but more for his views on cricket and everything else.

But what was he like as a bowler in his playing days? How do you rate him?

shoaib.jpg
 
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great bowler, unrivaled pace and developed great acumen with age.

unfortunately he played in a team that dropped a lot of catches and didnt field well. cost him a few runs on his average.

sulked a bit too which didnt help.

greatest cricketer from rawalpindi, put the city on the cricketing map, and was the prototype pindi boy. as a pindi-ite myself used to love it when id say im from pindi and non pakistanis would say like the pindi express then.
 
At his peak, one of the most devastating fast bowler the game has seen who took the conditions completely out of the equation. However, with the way he bowled, he was bound to become injury prone. He could have remodelled himself in the second half but he never really wanted to.

Overall an underachiever IMO and probably a tier below the all time greats that Pakistan produced before- Imran, Wasim and Waqar. He is a superstar but in the eyes of critics, he will not be mentioned in the same regard as IK, WA and WY.
 
His peers rate him very highly and he tends to make quite a few world 11s these days.
Absoloute box office and a pure match winner. There was a time when pakistan had won 3-4 test matches against Southafrica and Akhtar had starred in every single victory. A massive match winner but had a cringy personality.
No questioning his bowling skills though.
He made cricket very exciting to watch.
 
A very good bowler if his fitness was good enough he would have gone down as a great bowler.
 
Ab Fan said:
At his peak, one of the most devastating fast bowler the game has seen who took the conditions completely out of the equation. However, with the way he bowled, he was bound to become injury prone. He could have remodelled himself in the second half but he never really wanted to.

Overall an underachiever IMO and probably a tier below the all time greats that Pakistan produced before- Imran, Wasim and Waqar. He is a superstar but in the eyes of critics, he will not be mentioned in the same regard as IK, WA and WY.
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He had the ability to become a great bowler like W's but his fitness and sometimes attitude came in the way.

I would have counted him among the greats if he had taken 300 test wickets. He was a very good bowler just a notch below greats
 
ethan hunt said:
His peers rate him very highly and he tends to make quite a few world 11s these days.
Absoloute box office and a pure match winner. There was a time when pakistan had won 3-4 test matches against Southafrica and Akhtar had starred in every single victory. A massive match winner but had a cringy personality.
No questioning his bowling skills though.
He made cricket very exciting to watch.
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SA vs Pak in 2007, Akhtar was half-fit and he won Pakistan match effectively in one innings. Kallis and Pollock were literally afraid such was his spell in that match
 
Got me into pakistani cricket, I think it was sharjah in 1998

I remember knowing the likes of ramprakash, defreitas and hick while growing up and obviously everyone knew of Ian Botham etc
But Pakistan weren't on terrestrial TV and it was shoaib akhtar made me start following pakistani cricket
 
I'd rate him above the versions of waqar and wasim I saw
The best pakistani bowler I have seen in terms of rattling and skimming through the opposition based on sheer aggression
Mohammed asif was more guile and craft and I would probably rate him just higher
 
Definition of Pakistan cricket at its destructive best.
 
He was a deceptive bowler in that batsmen found it difficult to pick up his delivery and I would put this down to his action.
 
An excellent strike bowler Put fear in the opposition and when in the mood hed be devastating Its just a shame his attitude caused him to miss more games than he played

Definitely a big underachiever Probably the 5th best pakistani pacer ever, well below the Ws
 
A great bowler but not a legend only waqar and wasim are legends in bowling departments
 
Like Shahid Afridi, he wasted a great talent and achieved absolutely nothing.

He insisted upon bowling with an excessively long run-up, with the consequence that he never even reached 200 Test wickets.

So he will forever be looking up at mediocrities like Heath Streak and Merv Hughes and Chris Martin who did take 200+ Test wickets.

Supremely talented, but a total failure.
 
Supremely talented and skillful. But no matter how good or skillful you are, you are ultimately judged by your achievements. He took a grand total of 178 Test wickets.
 
He only ever played 1 Test in England.
England is the home of cricket.

A few felt his action was suspicious.
 
Fast, Controversial, Star, Undisciplined, Fearsome, Underachiever
 
I rate decent bowlers in the following 3 categories:

1. World Class
2. Legendary
3. All-Time Great (ATG)

ATG > Legendary > World Class

I have Shoaib either top tier in the World Class bracket or one of the lower tiers in the Legendary category.

What stops him from being ATG is his lack of matches in both white ball and red ball cricket.

Overall, I'll rate him as world class and what prevents him from entering Legendary status in my opinion was because he used to take performance enhancing substances and due to this habit of his, he missed the 2007 WC, when Pakistan needed him the most.

In other high stake events such as the 2003 WC, I wasn't that impressed by his bowling either.

Great record who should have played 70-80 tests and had a better track record in ICC tournaments but he was a flawed character.
 
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ATG. Often carried a fast bowling attack that became extremely mediocre after the retirements of the 2 W's. Single handedly kept us in the game on many unforgettable occasions.

It is also a source of national pride that we have produced a true 100mph bowler. This is something most cricket playing nations will never get to say.
 
Robert said:
Comparable to Thomson. Probably better than Lee. Not as good as Roberts.
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Better than all thompson , lee and roberts unlike these three akhtar did not have good bowling partners post 2ws andy roberts and thompson played in more bowler freindly
era, besides quality of batsmen shoaib faced was superior than the other 3 faced such as tendulkar lara,ponting etc
 
hitthestump said:
ATG. Often carried a fast bowling attack that became extremely mediocre after the retirements of the 2 W's. Single handedly kept us in the game on many unforgettable occasions.

It is also a source of national pride that we have produced a true 100mph bowler. This is something most cricket playing nations will never get to say.
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When he was playing with the W's from 1999 onwards, the entire team looked to Shoaib to run through teams and to win the game, Wasim was a reliable economical bowler at this stage whereas Waqar would mostly always make ways for Shoaib till Waqar won the lottery with the captaincy
 
I think people over here deliberately choose to ignore and refuse to acknowledge Shoaibs lack of cartilage in his knew because of their immense hatred for the individual and only someone with the same problem will understand how debilitating it is. He got knee replacement surgeries in 2016 & 2019 in his 40's when elderly people get this in their 60's.

Look at Saqlain Mushtaq, the guy was a spinner and he was finished at the age of 26-27 because of it.
 
Junaids said:
Like Shahid Afridi, he wasted a great talent and achieved absolutely nothing.

He insisted upon bowling with an excessively long run-up, with the consequence that he never even reached 200 Test wickets.

So he will forever be looking up at mediocrities like Heath Streak and Merv Hughes and Chris Martin who did take 200+ Test wickets.

Supremely talented, but a total failure.
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A total failure is not revered time and time again by the likes of Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Herschelle Gibbs, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Flintoff etc just to name a few

And for your kind information don't talk out of your behind, he had a knee cartilage problem in both his knees, whether he ran from 15 steps or 40 steps, his knee cap would have caused friction and released fluid and pain. Cutting down the run up would not have eliminated this problem. He only cut down his run up in his final year in international cricket because he was 35 years old and he no longer had the fitness required for his long run up any more.
 
A great bowler who would have been a legend if he could keep himself fit while playing. People mix fitness with his bowling calling him all kind of names. I do admire him to come over his disabilities to even play sports, let alone be the most threatening bowler I have ever seen in my 40 years of watching/playing cricket. He could have been the best ever if he had tried to be fit. He unfortunately chose glamorous/colorful life instead of being professional as Imran Khan.

If we set his fitness aside, I have no doubts in my mind that he would been the best bowler ever and the greatest of all. He had all the skills/variations of a fast bowler but with extreme pace. None better than him when FIT.
 
A great bowler.

Due to continuous injuries, his ego (wanting to bowl faster) when he should have been chasing longevity and absurd controversies he was unable to end up as a legend.
 
Kingpin786 said:
Better than all thompson , lee and roberts unlike these three akhtar did not have good bowling partners post 2ws andy roberts and thompson played in more bowler freindly
era, besides quality of batsmen shoaib faced was superior than the other 3 faced such as tendulkar lara,ponting etc
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Lee played in a different era from Shoaib?
 
please bold that line where i mentioned lee and shoaib played in different era ,lee did not bowl to ponting,hayden ,gilchrist,langer etc these were better player of fastbowling as compared to asian batsmen , i
 
Kingpin786 said:
please bold that line where i mentioned lee and shoaib played in different era ,lee did not bowl to ponting,hayden ,gilchrist,langer etc these were better player of fastbowling as compared to asian batsmen , i
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But you said that Shaoib bowled to the likes of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, which implies that Lee didn't bowl to Tendulkar and Lara.
 
Shoaib Akhtar averages 25 in ODIs which is same as Mohammad Shami. So, how is Akhtar a great but Shami not and Shami has a better record in World Cup also?
 
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transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Ro-I6HUpV/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">A memory with one of the legends of the game. Best batsman of his era [MENTION=150630]Brianlara[/MENTION]official . I wish i played more against him. #BrianLara #WestIndies #Legend</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/imshoaibakhtar/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Shoaib Akhtar</a> (@imshoaibakhtar) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-04-22T07:59:33+00:00">Apr 22, 2020 at 12:59am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
 
A legend of the game.

Fastest bowler ever.

Second greatest fast bowler produced by Asia after Wasim Akram.

One of the greatest match winners ever.

But most importantly, one of the nicest human beings ever.
 
I loved the effort he put in every ball - possibly destroyed his career due to injury due to that but that's the only way he could play.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
I'd rate him above the versions of waqar and wasim I saw
The best pakistani bowler I have seen in terms of rattling and skimming through the opposition based on sheer aggression
Mohammed asif was more guile and craft and I would probably rate him just higher
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To think both Akhtar and Asif bowled together at times is crazy, I feel the pairing should have been more successful but it wasn't to be
 
I still remember the test match against England where he blew away the English batting along with danish Kaneria.
Shoaib was devastating but underachieved a lot due to fitness and attitude.
His strike rate and average is good in both formats and could have taken many more wickets.
I still remember many times batsmen looked very nervous facing him and would always try rotate the strike.
He was pure box office though, you wouldn’t step away whilst he was bowling, we don’t really have players like that any more.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Shoaib Akhtar at his best <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/F06nH2QdF2">pic.twitter.com/F06nH2QdF2</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1255191962308825090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Great bowler at times, but did not have the action and the ability to perform consistently in test cricket. I feel that is overrated at time on PP, Gillespie tier rather than Pollock/Waqar tier bowler
 
Regardless of controversies etc - he remains one of Pakistan's most revered fast-bowlers, with many bowlers getting inspired by him
 
My Goodness, the Speed That Akhtar Bowled in That Series: Pietersen Recalls Horrors of 2005 Series

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KP via Instagram "2005 tour of Pakistan was beautiful. It's unfortunate cricket hasn’t gone back there. But in the last 6 months PSL has gone back to Pakistan & that's wonderful to see. They are the most wonderful people who love cricket & deserve to be able to see it" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1263196446372872192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KP "Andrew Flintoff said Shoaib it’s no use looking like Tarzan & bowling like Jane. Shoaib took this to heart. The speed at which he bowled in that Test series, oh my word. He was bowling faster at five in the afternoon than he was in the morning. It was crazy" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/k8qwFN3qak">pic.twitter.com/k8qwFN3qak</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1263198932173312000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Shoaib Akhtar was great as a bowler, you always thought that a wicket was around the corner. However, Shoaib as person isn't great. He is an attention seeker and could do anything for it. This includes harming the reputation of Pakistan (knowingly or unknowingly).
 
Low tier ATG fast bowler, with Jimmy, Kapil etc. When on song was brilliant.

Despite having a reasonably long career, falls into the Reid/Bond/Bishop/Jones class of what could have been fast bowlers
 
speed_thrills said:
Scariest bowler ever. Always felt we will end up losing 60 wickets in his 10 over quota.
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Also, most bowlers while being hammered looks toothless but Akhtar had that aura to look meancing even then. Remember how he dismissed Tendulkar at 98 in 2003 world cup.
 
Shoaib was not just a bowler he was an entertainer, he was box office, the main event. His greatness can't be judged by mere stats, he is a legend in his own right and personally my favourite bowler.

At his best there is no bowler more dangerous than Akhtar.

People here saying he should have shortened his run up or remodel his action or cut down on pace, if he did any of those things he would not have given so many devastating memory to cricket fans.

He might not be an ATG in eyes of stats loving cricket nerds but he definitely was one of the most enjoyable players in a game which has large amount of boring/mundane time.
 
big_gamer007 said:
Shoaib was not just a bowler he was an entertainer, he was box office, the main event. His greatness can't be judged by mere stats, he is a legend in his own right and personally my favourite bowler.

At his best there is no bowler more dangerous than Akhtar.

People here saying he should have shortened his run up or remodel his action or cut down on pace, if he did any of those things he would not have given so many devastating memory to cricket fans.

He might not be an ATG in eyes of stats loving cricket nerds but he definitely was one of the most enjoyable players in a game which has large amount of boring/mundane time.
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Great post everything you said is correct regarding run up or remodelling or pace
 
He didn't have ATG stats but he made his mark against the players he played with who still remember him.
 
big_gamer007 said:
Shoaib was not just a bowler he was an entertainer, he was box office, the main event. His greatness can't be judged by mere stats, he is a legend in his own right and personally my favourite bowler.

At his best there is no bowler more dangerous than Akhtar.

People here saying he should have shortened his run up or remodel his action or cut down on pace, if he did any of those things he would not have given so many devastating memory to cricket fans.

He might not be an ATG in eyes of stats loving cricket nerds but he definitely was one of the most enjoyable players in a game which has large amount of boring/mundane time.
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Yep.

Correct.

Even his stats are top class.
 
A good bowler who had decent peaks and was an entertainer. He is not ATG but someone who could have achieved more.
 
ElRaja said:
great bowler, unrivaled pace and developed great acumen with age.

unfortunately he played in a team that dropped a lot of catches and didnt field well. cost him a few runs on his average.

sulked a bit too which didnt help.

greatest cricketer from rawalpindi, put the city on the cricketing map, and was the prototype pindi boy. as a pindi-ite myself used to love it when id say im from pindi and non pakistanis would say like the pindi express then.
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I like this. There is an interesting point about the impact he had specifically on those from Rawalpindi, a point I had never thought about before. Quite rightly it is noted that Akhtar developed into a smart bowler, a point often overlooked as people tend to focus on his pace. It is valid as well, to note the impact of poor fielding, which is something we should remember for virtually all Pakistani bowlers, especially when comparing them to bowlers from other countries.

My final comment would be that I have seen very lucky to see many great spells of fast bowling from Pakistan bowlers but I am not sure I have seen anything more lethal than his spell against Australia at Colombo in 2002.
 
Some excellent words from Brett Lee for Shoaib:

"We both loved to bowl fast and see the ball fly through. I remember playing for my home club, we had finished the game and gone back to aerosol to have a drink and celebrate a win. I remember watching Pakistan playing a Test match and the Rawalpindi Express. I see this guy with the beautiful black flowing hair running in with a quick arm action and I went ‘Holy smoke! That is good pace. Who is this guy? What’s this guy’s name?’ and they just kept on saying Shoaib Akhtar and he just burst on to the scene"

“It must have been the late 90’s, 97 or 98 it might have been. I just thought that he is so exciting to watch. I don’t care what country someone comes from or their beliefs; if they are bowling quick I love to watch it"
 
MenInG said:
Some excellent words from Brett Lee for Shoaib:

"We both loved to bowl fast and see the ball fly through. I remember playing for my home club, we had finished the game and gone back to aerosol to have a drink and celebrate a win. I remember watching Pakistan playing a Test match and the Rawalpindi Express. I see this guy with the beautiful black flowing hair running in with a quick arm action and I went ‘Holy smoke! That is good pace. Who is this guy? What’s this guy’s name?’ and they just kept on saying Shoaib Akhtar and he just burst on to the scene"

“It must have been the late 90’s, 97 or 98 it might have been. I just thought that he is so exciting to watch. I don’t care what country someone comes from or their beliefs; if they are bowling quick I love to watch it"
Click to expand...

Great comments from Lee
 
Bowled with a lot of venom.
I remember my father used to tell me that a great fast bowler when in rhythm runs through a batting line up and I watched him do exactly that so often.
He could dismantle the best of top orders in a space of few overs even on a pancake.
A lot of his spells will rank among the best in history.
My top favorite is durban 1998

One of the best ever
 
Former Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar has admitted that he regrets bowling a beamer to MS Dhoni on purpose during the second Test of the 2006 series against India in Faisalabad. In the first innings, Dhoni scored his maiden Test century – an incredible knock of 148 including 19 boundaries and four sixes.

A set Dhoni had taken on Akhtar, hitting him for three fours in an over before the pacer, coming from round the wicket, bowled a beamer to the India wicketkeeper, which was a little wayward and went for five wides.

14 years later, Akhtar conceded that he deliberately bowled the beamer to Dhoni, which stemmed out of frustration “I think I had bowled a 8-9 over spell in Faisalabad. It was a quick spell and Dhoni scored a hundred. I purposely bowled a beamer to Dhoni and then apologised to him,” Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“It was the first time in my life I had bowled a beamer purposely. I shouldn’t have done it. I regretted it a lot. He was playing so well and the wickets were so slow. However fast I was bowling, he kept on hitting. I think I got frustrated.”

Incidentally, Dhoni scored his maiden ODI and Test tons in his fifth match of each format. Both centuries produced scores of 148 and happened to be against Pakistan.

Akhtar further revealed how he was batting injury issues during the Test series, that saw him take just four wickets in three games. Akhtar explained how his knees had given up around the year 1997 itself and he carried on for the next 10 years with the help of injections.

“The deer type jump gets almost finished after 2-3 years. My knees brought me to my knees. My knees had become useless in 1997. Still I kept fighting and playing, after taking injections regularly,” he added. “I remember when India had come to Pakistan, my left fibula was broken, my landing leg. MS Dhoni had scored a century at Faisalabad. What sort of wickets they had prepared, you know.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...india-great/story-MiOI7YENHoG6sU29pWo6VM.html
 
Fantastic bowler. Speed , bounce , swing , reverse swing , lovely slow ball and on top of it agression. He was a complete fast bowler but unfortunately wasnt fit and disciplined enough to have a full career.
 
I remember almost every bowler in our local ground was trying to emulate his bowling action those days.
 
MenInG said:
Former Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar has admitted that he regrets bowling a beamer to MS Dhoni on purpose during the second Test of the 2006 series against India in Faisalabad. In the first innings, Dhoni scored his maiden Test century – an incredible knock of 148 including 19 boundaries and four sixes.

A set Dhoni had taken on Akhtar, hitting him for three fours in an over before the pacer, coming from round the wicket, bowled a beamer to the India wicketkeeper, which was a little wayward and went for five wides.

14 years later, Akhtar conceded that he deliberately bowled the beamer to Dhoni, which stemmed out of frustration “I think I had bowled a 8-9 over spell in Faisalabad. It was a quick spell and Dhoni scored a hundred. I purposely bowled a beamer to Dhoni and then apologised to him,” Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“It was the first time in my life I had bowled a beamer purposely. I shouldn’t have done it. I regretted it a lot. He was playing so well and the wickets were so slow. However fast I was bowling, he kept on hitting. I think I got frustrated.”

Incidentally, Dhoni scored his maiden ODI and Test tons in his fifth match of each format. Both centuries produced scores of 148 and happened to be against Pakistan.

Akhtar further revealed how he was batting injury issues during the Test series, that saw him take just four wickets in three games. Akhtar explained how his knees had given up around the year 1997 itself and he carried on for the next 10 years with the help of injections.

“The deer type jump gets almost finished after 2-3 years. My knees brought me to my knees. My knees had become useless in 1997. Still I kept fighting and playing, after taking injections regularly,” he added. “I remember when India had come to Pakistan, my left fibula was broken, my landing leg. MS Dhoni had scored a century at Faisalabad. What sort of wickets they had prepared, you know.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...india-great/story-MiOI7YENHoG6sU29pWo6VM.html
Click to expand...

Disgraceful because from my memory it was also the most fast and vicious beamer I have ever seen. Dhoni did well to avoid it. It was bowled at 155kph something. If he's admitting it was intentional now, it's really disgraceful.
 
Rahul Dravid is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen to have played for India. Famously known as 'The Wall' for his unmatched temperament and splendid batting skills, Dravid used to be a tough nut to crack for the bowlers. Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar recently revealed how once he and his teammate Shahid Afridi wanted to dismiss Dravid early to ensure they can enjoy their Friday night plans later in the day.

During a conversation with former India batsman Aakash Chopra, Akhtar shared the interesting anecdote which happened in the 1999 Pepsi Cup encounter between India and Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar was not playing and India lost early wickets in the game which prompted Afridi to plead Akhtar to get rid of Dravid quickly as a long innings from the India batsman would spoil their plans.

Akhtar lauded Dravid for his brilliant technique and recalled how he almost trapped him lbw but the umpire ruled out the decision in the batsman's favour. Dravid scored 25 runs off 37 balls in the game and was dismissed by Azhar Mahmood as India lost the game by 123 runs after getting bundled out for 168 in the 292-run chase. Akhtar picked up two wickets in the game.

"If a batsman used to play, like Rahul Dravid, we would bowl him length balls. From close to the stump we would aim the gap between bat and pad, try hit the ball on the pad. There was a final match in Bangalore, I had dismissed Sadagoppan Ramesh early, we took 3-4 wickets early. Sachin Tendulkar was not playing," Akhtar told Chopra.

"Shahid Afridi and I said Rahul Dravid will take a lot of time and it's Friday night today. Afridi said bowl something and take his wicket else he will play for long. I hit him directly on the pad and urged umpire to raise his fingers. I even said it's our Friday night. He did not give the decision in our favour but we had won in the end. Dravid was difficult and. determined batsman. It was difficult for me as well as him. He would play against me easily," he added.

Sehwag among others throughout his international career for the Pakistan national side. He is considered as one of the finest fast bowlers of all-time and still holds the record for bowling the fastest delivery in the history of international cricket.

Akhtar played 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is in his international career, picking up a combined total of 444 wickets across formats.

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...d-would-spoil-their-friday-night-plans/634048
 
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Very good bowler and in late 90s and early 2000s he put fear into most batsmen around the world. Sadly poor fitness and attitude stop him from being a legend of the game or having a long career. In the end he did underachieve to what he was really capable of.
 
Not in the class of wasim or akram. But a great bowler. Not an all time great. Did not work on fitness . Undisciplined. Was a box’s office hit. After cricket , talks way too much
 
Should have been at the level of Was and Waqar but poor fitness and poor discipline were his eventual downfalls. I still for the life of me can't understand why he started to put on weight from 2004 when he was a fast bowler with a 40 yard run-up.

But yeah should have been better, tried to hard to become the fastest bowler every time he bowled which also played a massive part on his legs getting constantly injured.
 
A very good bowler a tier down from waqar and waseem but an upgrade on Bret lee
 
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