Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar is one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. The 47-year-old pacer played at the highest level for 14 years and took a total of 444 wickets. He was known for his express pace and for making life difficult for the opposing batters. The Rawalpindi Express holds the record for the fastest delivery by any bowler. He touched the 100 mph (161 kmph) mark against New Zealand in 2002. During his prime, Akhtar was the leader of Pakistan’s pace attack, which included the legendary Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
Akhtar made his debut for Pakistan at his home ground on November 29, 1997, under Akram’s leadership, and later went on to play under a host of skippers during his career. And in a recent interview with a local Pakistani TV channel, he has now revealed that in 2002, he was offered the opportunity to lead the Men in Green, but he passed on that chance.
According to him, he didn’t take the role because he wasn’t physically fit enough to play all the matches, so in order to keep the team’s interest ahead of him, he refused to take the role.
“I wasn’t fit enough,” Akhtar told Suno News HD. “I could play three matches out of five. I was offered captaincy in 2002, but then I would’ve played only 1.5–2 years (if I played all matches),” said Akhtar.
“I supported my teammates, but the board was very unstable. There was mismanagement all over the board. Pakistan itself had faced mismanagement at that time,” he added.
During his 14-year-long international career, Akhtar faced multiple injuries that kept him out for long periods. But despite all that, he managed to represent Pakistan in a total of 46 Tests, 163 ODIs, and 15 T20I matches, in which he picked up 178, 247, and 19 wickets, respectively.
