Tribute to Shoaib Akhtar

[Savak]

I actually saw him first time in December 1996-Jan 1997 in some televised domestic game way before his debut in the later part of 1997. He was bowling to Saeed Anwar who was in the prime form of his life and he had him hoping, jumping and in trouble. The moment i saw Shoaib i knew immediately this guy has to be the fastest bowler in Pakistan after Zahid.

His true moment of reckoning came in 1999 and i so wish i could go back in time and see that period again where he knocked over Tendulkar, Dravid, was used by Akram as a totally attacking option and was left at ease with no worries. So much was expected of him, seeing Shoaib made me so hopeful that we have someone new after Wasim and Waqar.

He has had a really controversial career. Personally i feel the only reason he kept coming back into the team was because of his undeniable abilities with the ball which could not be ignored irrespective of his fitness, disciplinary or other issues.

I think his time is more or less going to be over now because we will have to back other young bowlers and its only about time that the likes of Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha e.t.c make a name for themselves.

So lets finally have a positive thread for once on Akhtar. Any good memories from him? Will we ever have another fastest bowler in the world again? Where did it go wrong? Lessons for the future.

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Hold on, if he gets to play tomorrow and surprises everyone with some good performance then it might as well not be the end of the road for him. Highly unexpected, but not impossible.

[kingusama92]

They are still thinking of playing him Savak... he might just suit up for Pakistan tomorrow as Malik finds it awkward dropping a player of his stature while he's fit.

I think he deserves one last shot tomorrow...

Although a very nice tribute to a great player...

My greatest memory of this fantastic player is in the 99 world cup which is the first time I saw cricket and fell in love with it. Akhtar was a huge part of me gaining love for the game of cricket and I would like to thank him for getting me addicted to cricket. The ball he bowled for Fleming in the semis is my most favourite memory of his, because I remember I was keenly watching the intricacies of the game and trying to be a sponge and soak it all in, and then BAM! all of a sudden this quick bowler (at that time I didn't know his name) comes and absolutely demolishes the batsman at the other end. At that point I said to myself... hey this game isn't that bad and this guy is my favourite player now.

[Savak]

Originally Posted by Bublu Bhuyan Hold on, if he gets to play tomorrow and surprises everyone with some good performance then it might as well not be the end of the road for him. Highly unexpected, but not impossible.

He is going to be dropped. He shouldnt be picked anyways, it was apparent he lacks rhythm which explains why he hasnt hit his full speed. He needs more match practice under belt. He cant be played in a crucial game. Team comes first. Sohail Khan should come in and we should have had another pacer for Sohail Tanvir.

[Savak]

Originally Posted by kingusama92 They are still thinking of playing him Savak... he might just suit up for Pakistan tomorrow as Malik finds it awkward dropping a player of his stature while he's fit. I think he deserves one last shot tomorrow... Although a very nice tribute to a great player...

To judge someone on the basis of 3 games after he has been out of the game for 11 months is unfair in my view. An express fast bowler does not come all out guns blazing immediately, it takes time, practice but time is something Pakistan does not have now with the series tied 1-1.

I think a full picture of whether he is finished or not will appear if he has plenty of match practice under his belt i.e. atleast 2 series and still does not make an impact. I think people are jumping the gun far too early.

[kingusama92]

Originally Posted by Savak To judge someone on the basis of 3 games after he has been out of the game for 11 months is unfair in my view. An express fast bowler does not come all out guns blazing immediately, it takes time, practice but time is something Pakistan does not have now with the series tied 1-1. I think a full picture of whether he is finished or not will appear if he has plenty of match practice under his belt i.e. atleast 2 series and still does not make an impact. I think people are jumping the gun far too early.

I agree they are jumping the gun, and that he should be getting more time to settle in, and that should begin from him playing tomorrow as well.

I have a strong feeling that if Akhtar plays tomorrow he will utterly destroy the Sri Lankan batting team.. it's just a feeling...

[Gabbar Singh]

Bit premature for the obituaries no?

[Tupac]

Shoaib Akhtar is not finished. He's a tiger and will come back and perform well.

[siddharth]

Overreaction .

[pakistanbest]

his not finished

[HuZi]

Originally Posted by siddharth Overreaction .

Maybe not m8 if you hear the news etc etc I absolutely don't think it's a overreaction

[aashiqmizaaj]

Originally Posted by pakistanbest his not finished

Exactly. He is not finished.



He was finished. A long time ago.

[pakistanbest]

Originally Posted by aashiqmizaaj Exactly. He is not finished. He was finished. A long time ago.

I really wish you eat your words tomorrow if he plays

[Wazeeri]

I see Akhtar turning up really angry tomorrow.

[aashiqmizaaj]

Originally Posted by pakistanbest I really wish you eat your words tomorrow if he plays

Why wait for tomorrow when I have seen what he did in the last 2 ODIs and the last couple of times he's played before that (that's when he plays).

[pakistanbest]

Originally Posted by aashiqmizaaj Why wait for tomorrow when I have seen what he did in the last 2 ODIs and the last couple of times he's played before that (that's when he plays).

It different now, tomorrow is make or break for Akhtar's career and he is a fighter. so don't write him off. feel he will bowl 5 overs and get a fiver

[aashiqmizaaj]

5 overs and 5fer. Wah Billi dekhe cheechron ke khwaab.

[Inswinger]

I have this strange feeling that Shoaib will play and will pick up some wickets.

[Kray_jackson7]

a great bowler. but was just too controversial

[Inswinger]

Originally Posted by makaveli786 a great bowler. but was just too controversial

That seems ti have become a theme for our good bowlers.

[siccric]

Originally Posted by Inswinger That seems ti have become a theme for our good bowlers.

[siccric]

Well, if this is the end of his career, I will be very disappointed. He made the game more exciting than it really was with his long run ups and quick bowling. Despite his controversies, I feel he is not credited for his commitment for playing with Pakistan. Yes, he has done some pretty stupid things that make people doubt his interest in playing for the country, but the fact that he has made comeback after comeback just proves his devotion to playing cricket in our national colours. Best of all, I liked how he didn't go off to ICL when he could have easily done that.
I hope he goes back to domestic for a while in attempt to gain some form with the ball, and share some last minute experience with youngsters on the circuit.

[BoomBoomAfridi]

if you ignore his controversies an judge him sorely as a bowler then you have to admit that he was bloody good at doing what he did! Pure entertainer! No better an more fearsome sight than seeing shoaib running in to bowl! LEGEND!

[amarmak]

Shoaib should play today... tanvir should be out and replaced by Sohail.

Afridi is my fav cricketer in the multi- universe, but today i'd rather play umar amin than him.

5 bowlers max and malik should finish his quota of 10 overs.

[amarmak]

shoaibs out

[Random Aussie]

Originally Posted by Wazeeri I see Akhtar turning up really angry tomorrow.

Would be very surprised if he turned up at all.

Things I will remember about Shoaib:

Him and Zahid bowling to Taylor and Slater in Pakistan. Both Aussies said it was the fastest opening spell they had ever faced. Pity the wicket was so flat Mark Taylor was pulling Shoaib for six. If you watch the highlights (Taylor's 334*) check out the look on Shoaib's face when Taylor has pulled a ball. He can't believe it.

Yorkers to India to shut up the Indian crowd, probably his best moment.

The bouncer at the Gabba, that was ridiculous.

How much of a star he was at the 99WC. I knew Aussies who were staying up to watch Pakistan matches just to see him bowl.

Pwning Hayden in Australia. And the ovation he got when he came back from the action problems from the Aussie crowd.

The chicken dance when KP was dismissed.

And general idiocy, selfishness and disruptiveness. But that is the way things go, he had the talent to be the greatest bowler ever but has to settle for the description of very good but unreliable bowler.

[Dhonian]

Originally Posted by Random Aussie Yorkers to India to shut up the Indian crowd, probably his best moment.

After that moment, he gave us more moments to laugh at, let alone making us talk about them . In short, we had the last laugh

[amarmak]

Originally Posted by Dhonian After that moment, he gave us more moments to laugh at, let alone making us talk about them . In short, we had the last laugh

errr ok... if you say so.

[Savak]

Well atleast his last game did not end up involving him playing for a side which got out for 75 runs.

[siddharth]

^^ Savak after this pathetic perfomance,team management will change captain and who knows the new captain will bring Akhtar back into the team.

[pakistanbest]

he will be back

[bdchamp20]

Shoaib Akhtar is the most exciting modern Pakistani player, not Shahid Afridi.

[Wazeeri]

The problem with him is that he is a typical guy of the streets in Pakistan.
He had a special talent and he was therefore given special treatment which went to his head,

The worst thing to happen to him and the very thing which ruined his career was the fact that his place in the team was always taken as granted. This lead to him not working hard in domestic matches to prove himself worthy for selection which ultimately lead to him becoming lazy and spiritless.

He will go down in cricket history as an under achiever along side the likes of Shane Bond.
Both these bowlers could have been all time legends but sadly they don't deserve that title.

[Savak]

Originally Posted by Wazeeri The problem with him is that he is a typical guy of the streets in Pakistan. He had a special talent and he was therefore given special treatment which went to his head, The worst thing to happen to him and the very thing which ruined his career was the fact that his place in the team was always taken as granted. This lead to him not working hard in domestic matches to prove himself worthy for selection which ultimately lead to him becoming lazy and spiritless. He will go down in cricket history as an under achiever along side the likes of Shane Bond. Both these bowlers could have been all time legends but sadly they don't deserve that title.

Partly i must agree that he did not really take care of himself or mend his ways in time. His biggest mistake was to continue with his prime a dona ways well into the time when he was supposed to lead the bowling attack after the W's went.

Injuries didnt help either and i wish he was extremely humble like Brett Lee so that so many people would never have the excuse to gang up against him at the first opportunity. But i also need to say its not everyone's cup of tea to handle fame easily. I wonder if i was ever in Shoaib's shoes and the amount of media and public adulation, social adulation, the money, fame, recognition. How i would handle it inspite of coming from a well of educated family? Not really sure.

[DM]

Shoaib Akhtar is simply one of the most destructive bowlers the world has ever produced. He's killed every batting team and pretty much every batsman.

He, along with Afridi who's killed pretty much every bowler, hold the mantle of Pakistan's premiere, box-office attractions.

If dropped, Shoaib Akhtar will definitely be missed.

I still hope we haven't seen the back of him - he seems to have lost a lot of weight recently and it'd be a pity if all the work goes to waste.

[Savak]

Originally Posted by DM Shoaib Akhtar is simply one of the most destructive bowlers the world has ever produced. He's killed every batting team and pretty much every batsman. He, along with Afridi who's killed pretty much every bowler, hold the mantle of Pakistan's premiere, box-office attractions. If dropped, Shoaib Akhtar will definitely be missed. I still hope we haven't seen the back of him - he seems to have lost a lot of weight recently and it'd be a pity if all the work goes to waste.

all the way.

[Geordie Ahmed]

The first time i saw Shoaib Akhtar play was the 1999 World Cup and what a sight it was - the run up was glorious, the way he wound up his arm and the the unleashing of thunderbolts. He was superb in the World Cup, absolutely loved the yorker he unleashed on New Zealand.

No doubting this guy had talent, he was a natural cricketer BUT sadly he has not done justice to that talent. Not even getting 200 wickets in Tests is terrible.

Injuries are part and parcel of a fast bowlers life BUT what wasnt acceptable was his poor fitness - he was regularly out of shape and struggled to complete series.

Although i think the PCB management were partly to blame as they allowed him to get away with it - and Akhtar knew he could turn up with average fitness and he would get selected. If they were strict with him from day one then im sure we would have gotten more out of him

Its now time to say thanks Shoaib BUT we have to move on. He is past it. He could probably still muster the odd moment of brilliance BUT i bet Wasim Akram could aswell right now. What we need is someone who is fit and can bowl regularly, we have some young pacer's waiting in the wings and we need to start giving them game time.

Im not fond of Akhtar BUT i would still like us to give him a decent farewell for all his contributions to Pakistan cricket. Pakistani cricketers have rarely been given a decent send off so maybe its about time that changed.

Thanks for the memories Shoaib Akhtar.

[DM]

Is he dead?

[salman24]

I don't know why people are acting like his career is over. I hope he will be back iA .He might be gone for good but nothing is certain yet.

[DM]

:-(

[The Blazer]

Geordie, I like your posts BUT I like your posting style even better.

[DM]

Good post GA

The thing though that I'm not sure I agree with the majority on is what proportion of his absences were attributable to poor fitness and what proportion were due to the massive, massive toll his body takes (more than any other cricketer as he's the fastest).

My view is that the balance is more towards the latter than we give him credit for.

[DM]

Originally Posted by The Blazer Geordie, I like your posts BUT I like your posting style even better.

Geordie and his BUT

[The Blazer]

Guys I've actually written an article on Zahid, Akhtar & Sami that I've submitted to the new PP Writers' Section.

Hopefully it will be good enough to be published.

[DM]

Great stuff Ox Van Oxcake Beastmeat

[DM]

Looking forward to it

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by DM Good post GA The thing though that I'm not sure I agree with the majority on is what proportion of his absences were attributable to poor fitness and what proportion were due to the massive, massive toll his body takes (more than any other cricketer as he's the fastest). My view is that the balance is more towards the latter than we give him credit for.

I understand that he put his body through a lot BUT even if he tried to stay shape then im sure he wudnt have gotten as much criticisms as he gets - having a belly is not acceptable for a fast bowler BUT it was a regular sight with him the last few years . . . .

He clearly wasnt careful about what he ate or too keen on exercising so from that point of view he was responsible for being out of shape

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by The Blazer Geordie, I like your posts BUT I like your posting style even better.

Originally Posted by DM Geordie and his BUT

Got to have something to stand out from other posters

[DM]

Originally Posted by Geordie Ahmed I understand that he put his body through a lot BUT even if he tried to stay shape then im sure he wudnt have gotten as much criticisms as he gets - having a belly is not acceptable for a fast bowler BUT it was a regular sight with him the last few years . . . . He clearly wasnt careful about what he ate or too keen on exercising so from that point of view he was responsible for being out of shape

To be fair, he was shaped like a rhinosaurus rex with twins.

The amazing thing is that even when he was shaped like a rhinosaurus rex with twins, he still managed to hit 150kph.

He is unique in that he could generate pace however fit he was.

[The Blazer]

Rhinosaurus? x infinity

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by DM To be fair, he was shaped like a rhinosaurus rex with twins. The amazing thing is that even when he was shaped like a rhinosaurus rex with twins, he still managed to hit 150kph. He is unique in that he could generate pace however fit he was.

Not in the early years - was in brilliant shape at the 99 world cup BUT i agree that tidd or no tidd he could still unleash the pace

All im saying is that if he did keep himself in shape between matches, even if it did not make a difference to his injuries then atleast he wudnt have had as much criticism

Anyhow whats done is done - he clearly doesnt have much left in the tank, maybe we should just cherish the memories and move on and look forward to Talha et al

[DM]

The thing was though, he became faster after he bulked up from his early days - not quite when he hit rhinosaurus levels, but he was about Moose level (if you can imagine a moose standing upright).

His ideal weight was later on. He put on tonnes of muscle.

[Savak]

Bump. I challenge everyone to mention a few positive things about Shoaib and their proudest memory associated with him.

[Mythsmoke]

Colombo 6-fer against the aussies....shame on the batsmen for losing it

[pakistanbest]

England 05, fell in love with cricket cause of akhtar & akram

[pakistanbest]

He will be back for bangladesh series, like it or not

[Saqs]

Everything about the 99 world cup.

His numerous demolitions of the Kiwis.

His send-offs to Hayden and KP.

His crazy slower ball that he unleashed on England in that series win.

[Savak]

An uphill battle now. Final Career stats 178 test wickets and 219 ODI wickets. Serious underachievment for someone so gifted and talented. I still remember when it was 1999 and how excited Pakistan was at an exciting speedster knocking over the stumps of the best batsman in the world and was expected to bring the 1999 WC at home and being used by Wasim Akram in the same manner as Wasim was used by Imran.

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Originally Posted by Savak An uphill battle now. Final Career stats 178 test wickets and 219 ODI wickets. Serious underachievment for someone so gifted and talented. I still remember when it was 1999 and how excited Pakistan was at an exciting speedster knocking over the stumps of the best batsman in the world and was expected to bring the 1999 WC at home and being used by Wasim Akram in the same manner as Wasim was used by Imran.

That Test match where he got Dravid, then Tendulkar ?

[abc_to_xyz]

I remember him from 1998-2002. He was DAMN threatening!!!

[pace007]

i 1st heard of Akhtar when Zahid made an impact for Pakistan down under, we heard pakistan had a bowler who was even faster than Zahid playing in the domestics!
he came england with the A team and made a few headlines here by injuring a few batsmen lol
i 1st saw him bowl in 98 in the test series in SA - i can remember really enjoying seeing him run in and bowl and his 5 wicket innings was excellent, very quick, was hitting 150kph

shame he hasnt lived upto expectations and one of my all time favourite players - nothing makes you feel more excited than a real Pakistani express pace bowler steaming in and sending the stumps flying

as already mentioned - the 99 WC was really all about Shoaib! he was THE man in that WC

[pakistani pride]

well I started to love cricket after watching shoaib akhter bowl. I was 14 when the 99 WC strarted and remember all my friends everyone talked about him.

All of us wanted to play cricket and bowl fast !
He is amazing !

[IMMY69]

Originally Posted by pakistani pride well I started to love cricket after watching shoaib akhter bowl. I was 14 when the 99 WC strarted and remember all my friends everyone talked about him. All of us wanted to play cricket and bowl fast ! He is amazing !

pp do u live in singapore?

[Amoeba]

Goodbye (finally) to bad rubbish.

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Originally Posted by Amoeba Goodbye (finally) to bad rubbish.

Lucky that Farhad isn't around these days

[Amoeba]

Originally Posted by Bublu Bhuyan Lucky that Farhad isn't around these days

Even he would struggle to defend the indefendible.........although I'm sure he would give it a jolly good try..............at great length.

[minhasuz]

Savak don't give up hope. He will be back Insh Allah he will play against Australia Insh Allah
Subbar Ka Phal Metha Hota Hai!

[pakistani pride]

IMMY 69 no i live in holland

[king_of_kings_ali]

how much you rekon he benches?

[Random Aussie]

It seems like the end of the road for the almost great Shoaib Akhtar.

I think history will probably view him a bit more favourably in time although always will be known as a "what could have been" rather than what was.

On his day one of the best bowlers the world has seen. The fastest ever recorded bowler.