Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar regrets starting his career late as he feels that he lost his ‘peak’ time during the period he waited for selectors to give him a chance. He revealed that his skills were so sharp that the South African opener, Gary Kirsten was surprised to see him just as a net bowler during his team’s tour of Pakistan in 1994.
Akhtar revealed that Kirsten and Jonty Rhodes had asked him to bowl some deliveries in the nets, to which he had obliged saying, “Yes sir, I can do that for you [and] very soon, you’ll remember me.”
The veteran pacer also said that the Proteas opener was ready to vouch for his talent in the Pakistan dressing room but the selectors gave him a chance only after four years. Akhtar said he ‘lost his peak’ during the phase.
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During a chat on ‘Test match Special Podcast’, Shoaib Akhtar said, “I became a net bowler for the South Africans. I remember very clearly, there is one gentleman called Gary Kirsten, and Jonty Rhodes. They said, ‘Would you like to be a good net fast bowler against us?’ I said, ‘Yes sir, I can do that for you [and] very soon, you’ll remember me, Told me that I’ll be playing against you guys.’ They said, ‘So, how’s that?’ “
He further elaborated, “I then bowled a couple of balls at Gary Kirsten and he said, ‘Oh my Lord, you should have been in the team rather than in the nets.’ I asked if I’m capable enough to be a great fast bowler. He said, ‘You must be kidding me. I am going to vouch for you in the Pakistan dressing room that you should play.’ And Pakistan, what they did is play me four years later. So, I lost my peak there.”
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Shoaib Akhtar made his international debut in a Test match against West Indies in Rawalpindi. He made his ODI debut next year against Zimbabwe in Harare. The cricketer-turned-YouTuber was known for troubling the most technically sound batsmen of his era and scalped 444 wickets in his international career.
