Happy Birthday Shoaib Akhtar! A Look At the 5 Greatest Spells By the ‘Rawalpindi Express’
On the cricket pitch, India and Pakistan are seen as the main enemies. The excitement, feelings, and rivalry between the two teams push the players to do their best. Shoaib Akhtar was an experienced bowler from Pakistan.
He was known as the Rawalpindi Express because he was one of the fastest and most dangerous bowlers of his time. During his cricket career, Akhtar gave a lot of game-changing efforts, but some of his best bowling spells came against his rivals, India.
Here are the 5 best things the Rawalpindi Express have done against the Men in Blue.
4/47 vs India, Eden Gardens, 1999
During the Kolkata Test in 1999, Akhtar played his best against India in the game's basic form. When Pakistan batted first, they had a hard time getting going, and they were out at 185. In response, India could only score 223 runs at Eden Gardens.
Akhtar was the reason why India didn't do well. The Rawalpindi Express gave up 71 runs and took four wickets. The seamer then did even better in the last innings, getting a score of 20.1-5-47-4. Pakistan won the game by 46 runs thanks to Akhtar's hard work.
3/47 vs India, Rawalpindi, 2004
In 2004, India and Pakistan played a "win or go home" Test match in Rawalpindi. The three-match Test series was tied at 1-1. After Pakistan put up a score of 224, India made a mess of the pitch in the second game. The guests got a huge score of 600 runs because Rahul Dravid played an amazing 270-run knock.
The only good thing about Pakistan's effort was that Akhtar took three wickets while bowling at a rate of 2.22 per over. Akhtar was Pakistan's best seamer, but he didn't have any help from the other players, so the hosts lost the game by an innings and 131 runs.
4/58 vs India, Delhi, 2007
Even though Akhtar had another great game against India, the hosts won the first Test of the three-game series in Delhi. In order to win, India had to score 203 runs in the last game.
Akhtar did everything he could to get the team home. In the last game, he got rid of four important players, including Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly. In 18.1 overs, the seamer lost 58 runs.
But no other Pakistani bowler did well except for Akhtar. India got 203 runs without much trouble in 61.1 overs, but they lost four wickets.
4/36 vs India, Edgbaston, 2004
In a league game of the ICC Champions Trophy in Edgbaston in 2004, the Rawalpindi Express had his best stats against India in the One-Day version. India's 50 overs of batting came to an end when they reached 200 runs.
Akhtar ran through the batting order of the Men in Blue and took four wickets while giving up only 36 runs. Pakistan was able to chase down 201 runs in 50 overs without much trouble, and they won the match by three wickets. Mohammad Yousuf, on the other hand, won the Man of the Match Award for his brilliant 81-run hit.
3/19 vs India, Brisbane, 2000
During the ODI tri-series between India, Pakistan, and Australia, Akhtar put on another mind-blowing show against India. India's first game at The Gabba ended with 195 runs after 50 overs.
That Time Men in Green's 48-year-old pacer did the most damage to the other team by taking three wickets.
Akhtar gave up only 19 runs and sent back Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sameer Dighe. Saqlain Mushtaq, who took two wickets, helped the seamer in the right way. In the end, Pakistan won by two wickets because they reached their goal with the last ball of the game.