Shoaib Akhtar: “I wanted to see if Ricky can match my pace and I was purposely bowling bouncers [to] see if I could beat him”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan pace demon Shoaib Akhtar admitted that he purposely bowled bouncers to iconic Australia batsman Ricky Ponting during a Test match in Perth in 1999.

Since Pakistan were already 2-0 down in the three-Test series, he recalled how he wanted to “hurt somebody” if nothing was happening.

Given how fast he could bowl, Akhtar unleashed the full fury of his pace as he wanted to see if Ponting could survive.

“During the Test match, I thought [if nothing is happening] let’s hurt somebody,” he was quoted as saying by the Brisbane Times. “That’s why I bowled the fastest spell. I wanted to see if Ricky can match my pace and I was purposely bowling bouncers [to] see if I could beat him.”

Ponting ended up scoring a sensational 197 in the match, which Australia won by an innings and 20 runs.

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