While Shoaib Akhtar currently makes headlines for his outspoken views, which more often than not land him into hot water, there was a time when he was in the spotlight for all the right reasons. He was the scourge of all the batsmen in the 90s. The “Rawalpindi Express” was an absolute menace to some of the best batting line-ups in world cricket. And he was as aggressive with his demeanor on the field as he was with the ball in his hand. Another fast bowler who was just rising up in the ranks of world cricket was Brett Lee. There was a time in world cricket when it was a straight fight between Akhtar and Lee for who would bowl the fastest delivery in the world, and it came at a time when the rivalry between Pakistan and Australia was at its peak. Both teams played some of their best cricket against each other, which gave the world of cricket some epic matches between the two sides.
Speaking about the rivalry between them, Lee said, The first time I heard about Akhtar was when I was sitting in a pub watching a match. I was looking and thinking, who is this brother? Flying black hair, you can clearly see their advance. Broad chest, both legs moving like pistons… Balls falling like rockets. Then I saw his name – Shoaib Akhtar. This name has been etched in my mind since that time.
However, he recalled an incident where he almost thought he would lose his life on the cricket field. By 2000, both the pacers had become good friends, since they both bonded over the one common thing that they shared- express pace. The desire to be the fastest in the world bought the two pacers together and they had a camaraderie that was breath of fresh air in the intense competition between their respective sides.
In a game between the two sides at the Telstra Dome in Australia, Lee recalls an incident that took place between the two. Speaking about it he said, “Because there was a roof over the stadium, the pitch was assisting the seamers a lot. Shoaib was having an absolute dream spell in the game, bowling with pace and a lot of venom. So when it was my turn to bat, I was totally scared and very anxious. But somewhere in my mind, I thought that I will be fine. Shoaib and I are best mates, surely he will be a bit lenient towards me. So on I went to take my guard at the crease. So there I was, taking guard and having a look at the field, making a plan on how and where I would score my runs.
It was then that I heard a voice shouting, “Binga! Binga!. I looked around to see who it was and saw it was Shoaib. He went on to say, Binga I’m going to kill you. And then walked away from me. I have never felt so scared as I was at that moment. I still believed that he would be lenient towards me. But then he bowled an absolutely searing and perfect yorker which crashed right into my toes. The whole Pakistan side appealed, and out of sheer fear and panic, even I appealed deep down and hoped it was out. But the umpire, to everyone’s shock, including me, gave it not out. That was when I thought, “yeah this umpire is going to not stop until Shoaib kills me”.
He concluded by saying, “while he could be a little hyperbolic at times, deep down he was a genuine human being, and that is why we became good mates.
