Shaun Pollock: “You always feared the fast bowlers you played against and we had Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee at that time. They were the ones trying to gun for 160 [kph]”
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Legendary South Africa pace bowler Shaun Pollock has revealed that he “always feared” iconic Pakistan seamer Shoaib Akhtar.
Akhtar represented Pakistan in 46 Tests, where he took 178 wickets at an average of 25.69.
He also featured in 163 ODIs and claimed 247 wickets at an average of 24.97.
As for his T20 International career, the 44-year-old picked up 19 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 22.73.
In addition to Akhtar, Pollock admitted that former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee was someone to be feared as well since he was just as quick as Akhtar.
In fact, Akhtar and Lee repeatedly feature in the list of bowlers who have bowled the fastest balls in international cricket.
“The speed gun brought a different dimension to fast bowling because all of a sudden now you had something through which you could register how quick you were on the field,” Pollock said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast as quoted by Cricket Pakistan. “You always feared the fast bowlers you played against and we had Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee at that time. They were the ones trying to gun for 160 [kph].
“When batting we used to watch the Pakistan captain to see how many overs Shoaib Akhtar had left in his spell. When he’d get the signal that he was out of the attack, we would think, Yes!”
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