Happy Birthday Shoaib Akhtar: A look at career-best deliveries of ‘Rawalpindi Express’

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers that the game has ever witnessed. After making his debut at the International level, he did not take much time to prove himself capable of carrying the legacy of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram.

The Rawalpindi Express had become a nightmare for many great batters around the globe with his extreme pace and fearsome attitude. During his decorated 13-year-long career, Shoaib Akhtar played 163 One Day Internationals and 46 Tests in which he recorded a total of 247 and 178 scalps respectively. He also featured in 15 T20 Internationals and picked up 19 wickets.

Today on his 47th birthday, let’s have a look at some of Shoaib Akhtar’s fearsome deliveries:

If we look at his spells, clocking the speed of 150kmph was routine work for Shoaib Akhtar. A lot of big names of the game including Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar fell victim to him. But the fastest one came during a World Cup match against England in 2003 in Cape Town. While bowling against former English opener Nick Knight, the speedster crossed the 100 mph barrier on the last delivery of the fourth over. The delivery clocked 161.3 kmph which is still the fastest in the history of cricket. That over saw him maintaining the average speed of 158.06 kmph.

Former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting faced one of the most ferocious overs of his career during an ODI against Pakistan. Coming in to bowl the 11th over, Shoaib Akhtar was not in a mood to give any room to Ricky Ponting. He went on to continue the tight length and the result finally came in the last ball. He rattled the middle stump with a speedy inswinger.

It was India’s home Test against Pakistan in 1999 when Shoaib Akhtar made Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar his prey in two consecutive deliveries. The full-house Eden Gardens witnessed him uprooting the stumps of both the legendary cricketers with searing yorkers. First, he got Rahul Dravid and then made Sachin Tendulkar head to the hut with a golden duck.

In the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final in 2004 against West Indies, a nasty bouncer from the Pakistani pacer hit Brian Lara’s back of the head directly and made him collapse at the crease. However, Shoaib Akhtar helped him to get back on his feet before the latter left the field with the medics.

In a Test match between Pakistan and England in 2005. Shoaib Akhtar’s brutal yorker at the speed of 151.2 kmph against Ashley Giles made the stumps fly marginally far from the spot. It is considered one of the most dangerous deliveries of the Pakistani seamer against England.

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