Shoaib Akhtar remains a big name in international cricket. The Rawalpindi Express was a terror for batsmen with his raw pace and extra bounce. He retired from the gentlemen’s game with a total of 444 wickets up his sleeves across formats. 

To date, Akhtar remains vocal on various aspects of the game and is very critical of the Pakistan cricket team’s performances on the 22-yard cricket strip. Akhtar often makes heads turn with his sensational claims and big remarks on the Men in Green, leaving many shellshocked. Recently, the 45-year-old former Pakistani speedster shared his all-time ODI XI list. The XI features a total of four Pakistanis and as many Indians, however, some big names went missing.

Akhtar named Gordon Greenidge and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar as his openers. Greenidge didn’t play in the era where Akhtar was an active cricketer, however, he pipped former Pakistan opener, Saeed Anwar, to take the top-order slot. Anwar, on the other hand, was placed at No. 4. He explained the reason and told Sportskeeda, “People might be surprised by seeing Saeed Bhai in the middle but in today’s day, he would have murdered the bowlers.”

Akhtar’s middle and lower order looks promising with a host of big names in ODI cricket, such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, and Adam Gilchrist. While Gilchrist has more dismissals overall than Dhoni as a keeper, Akhtar still went with Dhoni as his man behind the stumps. The former pacer’s bowling line-up comprised Waqar Younis, all-rounders Wasim Akram and Kapil Dev along with wily Aussie leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Pulling off a surprise, Akhtar named Warne as his captain. Interestingly, the leggie never led Australia in international cricket but guided Rajasthan Royals (RR) to their only IPL championship, to date, in the inaugural season in 2008. On the other hand, Dhoni is reckoned as one of the most successful limited-overs captains, however, he remained on the list as a keeper-batsman only.

Some big misses

Akhtar’s list wasn’t only featuring the players who played during his time, as it has Greenidge and Kapil’s mention. Thus, he didn’t mention Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, etc.

Shoaib Akhtar’s all-time ODI XI: Gordon Greenidge, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, MS Dhoni, Adam Gilchrist, Yuvraj Singh, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Kapil Dev, Shane Warne (c)