Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar: “One of the main reasons for my retirement was that I am not able to wake up early anymore. I have been waking up at 6 am for the past 25 years”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has admitted that he can’t “wake up early anymore”, which played a part in his decision to retire.
The Rawalpindi Express noted that he has been waking up at 6am every day for the past 25 years, but can no longer do it.
Akhtar was renowned for being of the most frightening pace bowlers Pakistan ever produced and still holds the record for the fastest ball ever bowled in international cricket at 161.3 kph (100.2 mph).
“One of the main reasons for my retirement was that I am not able to wake up early anymore. I have been waking up at 6 am for the past 25 years. And then to bowl to the likes of Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Rahul) Dravid, they used to tire me all day. So this was one of the main reasons for my retirement – that I can’t wake up early,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Akhtar featured in 46 Tests and took 178 wickets at an average of 25.69.
He also played 163 ODIs and claimed 247 wickets at an average of 24.97.
As for his T20I career, the 49-year-old picked up 19 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 22.73.
The Pakistan team recently took on Bangladesh in a two-Test series and were beaten 2-0.
Many of the national players then played in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a 50-over tournament held in Faisalabad.
Currently, the men in green are facing England in a three-match Test series and find themselves 1-0 down after losing the first Test in Multan by an innings and 47 runs.
The second Test started on October 15 in Multan.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.
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