Salman Butt: “Look, Shoaib Bhai wasn’t just fast; he was a wonderful bowler with exceptional mental sharpness. He was always threatening and had all the skills”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt admitted that legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar bowled blisteringly fast and “was always threatening” when he had the ball in his hand.
Akhtar is right up there when it comes to bowlers who instilled fear in opposition batsmen as he could bowl as speeds of 160 kph.
In fact, the Rawalpindi Express still holds the record for the fastest ball ever bowled in international cricket at 161.3 kph (100.2 mph).
Salman pointed out that in addition to possessing that fear factor, Akhtar had “exceptional mental sharpness”, which contributed to his success.
The 49-year-old represented Pakistan in 46 Tests and 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 T20I career, Akhtar finished with 19 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 22.73.
“Look, Shoaib Bhai wasn’t just fast; he was a wonderful bowler with exceptional mental sharpness. He was always threatening and had all the skills,” Salman was quoted as saying by A Sports.
The Pakistan team recently toured Australia and came away with mixed results as they won the ODI series 2-1 before being whitewashed 3-0 in the T20Is.
As for their tour of Zimbabwe, the men in green triumphed 2-1 in both the ODI and T20I series.
Pakistan are now in South Africa and started off in disappointing fashion as they were beaten 2-0 in the T20Is.
However, they managed to turn things around in the ODI series as they triumphed 3-0.
Pakistan and South Africa will now play two Tests, with the first match getting underway on December 26 in Centurion.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
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