Stuart Broad: “[He] bowled me a yorker trying to hit my stumps and it missed the stumps. I missed it, didn’t even see it, and it flew through to the keeper. And I thought, oh yeah, oh yeah, that’s proper quick”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former England speedster Stuart Broad recalled facing iconic Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and thinking he was “proper quick.”
Akhtar represented Pakistan in 46 Tests and took 178 wickets at an average of 25.69.
He also played 163 ODIs, where he claimed 247 wickets at an average of 24.97.
In regards to his T20I career, the 50-year-old picked up 19 wickets in 15 games at an average of 22.73.
“My first-ever ball in international cricket, I faced Shoaib Akhtar. First-ever ball in an ODI at Cardiff and he was steaming in. I remember thinking that’s a really long run-up, like proper long, and then I looked back and the keeper was miles back. Fortunately, [he] bowled me a yorker trying to hit my stumps and it missed the stumps. I missed it, didn’t even see it, and it flew through to the keeper. And I thought, oh yeah, oh yeah, that’s proper quick,” Broad said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast.
Pakistan are now taking on South Africa on home soil and began by drawing the two-Test series 1-1.
They then won the three-match T20I series 2-1.
As for the ongoing three-match ODI series, it is level at 1-1 ahead of the 3rd ODI on November 8 in Faisalabad.
After the South Africa series, Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series from November 11 to 15, before joining a T20I tri-series with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from November 17 to 29.
Pakistan squad for South Africa ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem