Interesting Facts About Shoaib Akhtar

The World has seen the quickest ever bowler in form of Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan, who had an intimidating effect on the ground. Whenever he stepped on the park, he gave his utmost effort. Representing Pakistan in all three formats between 1997 to 2011. Akhtar was prominent for bowling deadly bouncers & toe-crushing Yorkers. For his aggressive and dominant attitude, he has left a mark in international cricket and will be called up for a long time. There are some Interesting Facts About Shoaib Akhtar, the flamboyant fast bowler which his fans should definitely know. 

26 Interesting Facts About Shoaib Akhtar

1. Shoaib Akhtar was born on 13th August 1975 in a small town called Morgah, Rawalpindi. His father Mohammad Akhtar used to work as a night watchman at a petroleum company. 

2. Akhtar is called “Rawalpindi Express” for his exaggerated pace in bowling. 

3. To grow his muscles Akhtar used to bowl with heavy bricks and throw rocks on the mountains, which were nearby from his home. This insane practice helped him to augment his pace during matches. 

4. After lots of struggle and poverty, Shoaib made his first-class debut in 1994-95, having an outstanding performance in the event, Pakistani CEO Majid Khan selected him for Pakistan A tour of England in 1996. 

5. Akhtar made his first appearance in the longest format of the game in 1997 and he bagged 2 wickets in the match. After his last test match against India in 2007, Shoaib 178 wickets in 46 tests, including 12 fifers. 

6. The Rawalpindi Express played his first ODI match against Zimbabwe in 1998. He has taken 247 wickets in 163 matches with an impressive average of 24.97. 

7. The deadly pacer from Pakistan clocked the highest speed of 161.3 km/hr in the history of cricket, he bowled the delivery against England in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. 

8. Shoaib Akhtar owns the record of being not out in 12 consecutive innings in ODIs.

9. Shoaib’s one of the most memorable performances came in the 1999 Asian Test Championship against India at Eden Gardens. He sent off Sachin and Rahul Dravid with a spectacular speedy Yorker. It was Sachin’s maiden encounter with Akhtar. 

10. In his autobiography “Controversially Yours”, Shoaib has said that “his family used to stay in a semi-pucca house. The roof of his house needed regular maintenance as it was not strong enough. Hence, his family had to battle with cold in winters. 

11. Shoaib Akhtar was a big fan of bike riding as a teenager. He used to ride bikes recklessly on the roads of Punjab.

12. In spite of being the fastest bowler in the world, Shoaib Akhtar condemned the Pakistani Cricket Management a lot for not looking after their fast bowlers. He Called Mohammad Zahid “the swiftest ever bowler of the world” sarcastically. 

13. The Pakistan Cricket Board banned Shoaib Akhtar for 5 years in 2007 for publicly denouncing them. Later in 2008, Lahore High Court lifted the ban from him for Akhtar’s kind appeal. 

14. Shoaib Akhtar played for three County sides in the County Championship- Durham (2003-04), Somerset (2001), and Worcestershire (2005). 

15. Akhtar is the 2nd player in history to be prohibited from playing cricket for ball-tampering, he got suspended in the 2003 Triangular series in Sri Lanka. 

16. Due to the early exit of Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup, Shoaib Akhtar had a dispute with the senior Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis. 

17. The Pakistani management sent the raw pacer home during the Australia tour in 2005 due to hamstring injury, but there were hoaxes that he was compelled to return home as Shoaib didn’t show discipline, vow, and violated the norms of the team. 

18. The fast bowler from the Punjab region of Pakistan couldn’t take part in the 2006 Champions Trophy because Shoaib was caught taking a performance improving element called “Nandrolone” along with his teammate “Mohammad Asif”. 

19. For using abusive and filthy words about the Pakistani Cricket Board during the National Camp in Karachi in 2007, the management imposed a penalty of RS 300000 on Akhtar. 

20. Along with being a fine bowler, Shoaib Akhtar could score some quick runs with his aggressive hitting as a tailender. He scored 45 runs in Karachi against India in 2006 batting at NO 9. Pakistan was 7 down on 145 runs after explosive bowling from Indian bowlers. 

21. Akhtar’s career was injury-prone. He once said “during his 18 years career he felt pain on his knees and suffered niggles every day” as he had electrifying pace. 

22. Shoaib Akhtar had hardly found it difficult to get a batsman out in his excellent career. But Rahul Dravid was the only player, who gave him nightmares, as he had never given his wicket easily ever. 

23. In the 2008 IPL, Akhtar played for Kolkata Knight Riders and bagged 5 wickets in 3 matches for the team. His best performance came against Delhi Daredevils, 4/11 in three overs. 

24. His jersey number was 14.

25. Akhtar published his autobiography “Controversially Yours” in 2011 with the help of Indian journalist Anshu Dogra. 

26. Shoaib Akhtar’s presumptive net worth is $23 million.

Shoaib Akhtar’s Career Stats

Format	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Bowling average	Strike-rate	BBF	5-Wickets	10-Wickets
ODI	163	162	247	24.97	31.40	6/16	4	–
Test	46	82	178	25.69	45.70	6/11	12	2
T20I	15	15	19	22.73	16.70	3/38	–	–
First-Class	133	–	467	26.26	43.80	6/11	28	2