Pakistan’s pacer Shoaib Akhtar is certainly the fastest bowler to play the game of cricket. The Pakistani pacer had quite a career, where he was always in the news be it positive or negative. Even after his retirement, he is always in the news as he is not afraid of making controversial comments.
Advertisement
In 2003, Akhtar bowled the fastest ball in the history of cricket, when he clocked 161.3 km/h against England in the World Cup game. He said that he always wanted to break the barrier of 160 km/h, and he did that as well. Born in Rawalpindi, Akhtar has said that he wanted to play under Imran Khan, but it could not happen.
Akhtar made his debut in 1997 in a test match against West Indies, whereas his last match was an ODI against New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup. He was benched for the semi-final against India, and he has expressed his anger over the same many times in the media.
Shoaib Akhtar said Pakistani bowlers have done ball-tampering
Shoaib Akhtar’s career was surrounded by controversies, and he was suspended twice by the ICC for ball-tampering. In his autobiography, Akhtar made a controversial statement where he said that almost all Pakistani pacers have done ball tampering, and he is the only one who has openly admitted it.
Akhtar insisted that no bowler in the world is innocent and everyone has tried to do something with the ball in their career. He said that it was the only way to survive as the pitches were always on the slower side in the subcontinent, and there was nothing for the pacers.
“Almost all Pakistani fast bowlers have tampered with the ball. I may be the first one to openly admit to it but everybody is doing it,” Shoaib Akhtar revealed in his autobiography “Controversially Yours.”
“To be honest, every team in the world tampers with the ball. We probably started it but today koi team doodh ki dhooli nahin hain.”
Akhtar even confessed that he tampered with the ball a lot of times and agreed that he became habitual about it. He although said that it is certainly not the right thing and apologized for it as well.
