Shoaib Akhtar: The Rawalpindi Express
A long run up like a plane on the runway just before takeoff, eyes beamed on the prey, anticipation of breaking the wickets, batsman horrified, wicket keeper and the slip fielder agile to grasp a sharp catch of the edge, are all indicative when Shoaib Akhtar is bowling. He is the world’s fastest bowler with the speed of 161.3km/h or 100.2mph when he delivered the ball twice while playing a match against England.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Akhtar-c90081 was born on 13 August, 1975 at Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He is a right-arm fast bowler and right-hand batsman. Akhtar’s nickname is ‘the Rawalpindi Express’, as his quick pace bowling and the fact that he is from Rawalpindi is often compared to the train of the same name.
Akhtar was very enthusiastic for playing cricket since he was at Elliott High School and later carried on to college and club cricket in the early nineties. He took special care of his physical fitness since the beginning, as he regular exercises and a proper diet plan molded him into strong built player.
Shoaib made his debut in Test cricket on 29 November, 1997 against the West Indies at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He shared the attack with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 and Waqar Younis, as Pakistan went on to win the match by an innings and 29 runs and Shoaib took 2 wickets. He has played 46 Test matches and grabbed 178 wickets at an average of 25.69 runs with the best of 6 for 11 runs in an innings and 11 for 78 in a match. He has scored 544 runs at an average of 10.07 with the best of 47 runs.
He started his One Day International career on 28 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 at the Harare Sports Club and took a wicket in Pakistan’s victory. He has played 160 ODI matches and has sent 244 batsmen back to the pavilion, at an average of 24.78 runs with the best of 6 for 16 runs. He contributed 394 runs at an average of 9.16 runs with the highest score of 43 runs.
Shoaib appeared in T20 cricket on 28 August, 2006 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 at the County Ground, Bristol. Pakistan won the match by 5 wickets and he shared a wicket in the match. He has played 15 T20 matches and claimed 19 wickets with an average of 22.73 runs with the best of 3 for 38 runs. Akhtar scored a mere 21 runs in 6 innings at an average of 7.00 with the highest of 8 runs.
He has played for the Pakistan national squad, English domestic teams Somerset and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 Riders and other Pakistan domestic teams.
Shoaib is a known to be controversial and undisciplined with players, team-mates and even with the management. He has been involved in problems time and again, as he was dispatched back home in 2005 from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Asif-c1993 and nearly hurt him with a cricket bat. He was given a life ban which was lifted by the order of the local court. Akhtar was banned for two years taking drugs, as surprise checks were made of the players. Many feel that he could have achieved more as far as his bowling records are concerned, if he was not involved in the above confrontations.
Shoaib has faced quite a few injury problems in his knees, wrist and back. This has forced him to sit out of cricket to help fully recover.
He has been banned time and again for his misconduct, positive dope tests, ball tempering but was lucky and escaped one way or the other. He proved to be a true fighter against all odds and came back to cricket every now and then. Pakistan had the most deadly fast bowling attack in the cricket world, once he joined with Akram and Younis. The trio enabled Pakistan with many victories, even against the strongest teams of the globe.
Shoaib is a part of the Pakistan squad for the ICC World Cup 2011 and they have immense hopes from him. He is most probably playing his last World Cup and is committed to deliver his best performance in the tournament. A fully fit, charismatic, accelerated Rawalpindi express can boost http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 to the top of the nations and might well bring them back the crown of cricket.
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