Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan|Bowler
Shoaib Akhtar
INTL CAREER: 1997 - 2011
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Full Name

Shoaib Akhtar

Born

August 13, 1975, Rawalpindi, Punjab

Age

48y 219d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Fast

Playing Role

Bowler

About the worst way to assess Shoaib Akhtar would be to do so through his numbers; they aren't unimpressive but rarely have they revealed so little.

From the moment Shoaib emerged on the scene in the late 90s, the world knew it was in for some career. First there was the extreme pace and there was also the attitude; Shoaib was the fastest bowler in the world, he knew it, he made sure others knew it. He was a natural successor to the legacy of Imran, Wasim and Waqar. But that he will end his career an 'if only' or a 'coulda been' is the great tragedy. He had it all and he blew it.

What he had was remarkable. Early on, in 1999, there wasn't a more thrilling sight in the world than Shoaib hurtling in off an impossibly long run and beating the world's best batsmen for pace. Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were clean bowled off successive deliveries at Eden Gardens and the World Cup in England later in the year was all but Shoaib's.

Other peaks came intermittently, but from 2004 to 2006, he rediscovered a spark; the trophy was the home series win over England in 2005-06 in which he took 17 wickets. By this time not only was he still very, very quick, but he had become an extremely smart bowler, an oft-underrated aspect of his development.

But it was a false dawn and a last hurrah. In between whiles and after, there have been as many lows. The list of misdemeanours is impossibly long; doubts about his action, ball-tampering offences, beating up his own team-mates, courtroom battles against his board, long bans and heavier fines, serious career-threatening injuries and most damagingly, doping charges. In his time, he missed more than half of the Tests Pakistan played.

So much so that what he did on the field had long ago ceased to matter and has been eclipsed by his scrapes off the field. For any sportsman, that is a damning indictment.
Osman Samiuddin

Shoaib Akhtar Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests4682814345741786/1111/7825.693.3745.710122
ODIs163162776461692476/166/1624.974.7631.4640
T20Is1515318432193/383/3822.738.1516.7000
FC133-20460122654676/11-26.263.5943.8-282
List A221-1062785223386/166/1625.214.8131.41370
T20s3838804978445/235/2322.227.2918.2210

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests4667135444710.07131341.43005322120
ODIs1638440394438.9553873.23002712200
T20Is1563218*7.0016131.25002120
FC13318650167059*12.27--01--410
List A221123458775611.24--01--350
T20s3819575145.357698.68004570
Shoaib Akhtar

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Recent Matches of Shoaib Akhtar

Photos of Shoaib Akhtar

Sachin Tendulkar gets some pre-game love from new team-mate Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar looks relaxed
Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar at the All-Stars launch in New York
Shoaib Akhtar speaks during a ceremony
Saeed Ajmal gives Shoaib Akhtar a hug during practice
Shoaib Akhtar in action during a warm-up game of football