Shoaib Akhtar: The Fast and the Furious

- Karthik Narayan

When one sees this warhorse gallop down the track, one wonders if he ever thought about the 100 meters dash before taking up cricket. There are various languages in this world, but for Shoaib Akhtar, in the game of cricket, there is only one language: SPEED. He talks that language with the fury of a King who does not want to be Second Best! Bowling fast is simply his Menu for breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and that’s what he intends to do. Time is a factor that is for the connoisseurs.

His bowling can be compared to Bombardment in Physics. The term means directing a stream of high speed particles at an object. Akhtar does precisely that, he hurls the ball at great speeds making the distance of 22 yards a touch too short for the batsman to recover. By the time the batsman tries to focus on the ball, he is walking back to the pavilion, head hung in the air.

He made his Test debut in the second test of the season of 1997-98 at his Home Ground against the WI. (This, incidentally, has earned him a name of Rawalpindi Express). If Imran founded Wasim Akram as the Great Bowler that he is, one can be fair to say that it was Wasim Akram who continued the tradition of nurturing this Pace Man!

This Rawalpindi Express’ strength is his ability to bowl Great Spells of Hostile Bowling at regular intervals. It is Cannonade, totally spitting fire continuously over a quick spell of hot Meteor Showers at the batsman.

When he toured India in 1998-99, the Kolkata test proved to be a surprise for the entire World, as India and the world saw a new Star with an attitude and allure. In the space of two great balls, he turned the Test match on its head He made Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid look like Cannon-Fodder when he uprooted the stumps from right under their feet. He made the whole wide world look with their mouths left open gaping at the pace generated by this passionate youngster! He went on to take 8 wickets in that Infamous Test where Sachin walked all around the ground in the second Innings, and finally Pakistan won comprehensively.

The “ultimate bowling spell” in the history of Akhtar-Cricket is the six wickets in one innings at Lahore in 2002 against the Kiwis. He proved in that match he is a match winner capable of wining matches in a mere matter of few overs. He bowled just 8.2 overs with 4 of them maiden overs, giving just 11 runs and SIX big wickets, all of them great deliveries. Five out of the six wickets had the stumps disturbed, so that gives us an indication of his accuracy and ability to hit the stumps from a height of 6 Feet Plus at a Fiery Pace. Shattering and Knocking over the Stumps is the pleasant sight for any fast bowler.

Adam Gilchrist is one of the most destructive batsmen in cricket, and Akhtar’s pace has been put away by him at the 1999 World Cup final, where the Aussies found nothing great about his bowling. But Akhtar had his revenge, as he made them eat their words and shots. In the 1st test against Aussies at Colombo in 2003, he bowled out another great spell of 8 overs with a five wicket haul, but then more than that five wicket-haul, one ball he bowled to Adam Gilchrist summed up what he can do with a round red cherry! Stumps were rocked at their base by a super ball, making us all wonder why a spinner’s delivery is dubbed as the Ball of the Century. That ball deserves more accolades as it screamed through the defenses of that great Aussie keeper, leaving him shipwrecked and his stumps knocked back looking for replacements.

Brett Lee is the main Contender to de-throne Akhtar from the claim of World’s fastest bowler. A Comparison of these Two Men in the fast lane might be interesting.

Akhtar seems to have a better strike rate in test matches (45 balls compared to Lee’s 53) and averages do vary…Akhtar gives less than 25 runs per wicket compared to Lee’s 32.. So Lee toils harder than Akhtar for wickets. Akhtar has taken more 5-wicket hauls compared to Brett Lee.

But then, it’s a bit early to compare. Akhtar has been left alone in the Pakistani Team, so he has become the spearhead of the team. Only in the recent year, Sami and a few other newcomers have done well. Otherwise, most of the time, Shoaib has done the Single Man Bowling job in the Pakistani Pace Regiment after the “capital” W’s (Wasim and Waqar) left the game. Saqlain Mushtaq did not last long, and Azhar Mahmood and a few others came and went.

His action is totally open chested. He has a small crouch as he starts his pretty long run up, and has the “Hidden Dragon” in his hand, ready to unleash the most deadly weapon with all the vile of a Black Magic exponent. The furious pace, the reverse swing, the high flying hair, the yell before he delivers his firing balls are all part and parcel of this fine bowler’s typical day in the field. He has had his bad day with the ICC, with his action being questioned; finally he has overcome that trauma and now added an extra spring in his step into becoming the fastest bowler in the world. That shows his pure grit and determination.

His ODI performances are pretty good looking if one goes by normal standards. He has taken 185 wickets in 117 games with a best bowling performance of 6/16. His strike rate is phenomenal, less than 30 balls for a wicket, which means for every 10 overs that he bowls in a match, he gets 2 wickets on an average, which is phenomenal!

The problem with this bowler is that he cannot be used over a long spell, and moreover he gets exasperated if he does not pick up wickets. He tries harder to hit the stumps, and manages to spread the ball all over the park. The World Cup 2003 India encounter with Sehwag and Sachin is the perfect example. These two master blasters had the sheer guts in their stomach to irritate this bowler by simply using his pace and dispatching him to the fence consistently.

Akhtar has invaded all our hearts with his heartwarming and Stumps burning performances. I wish him all success in the future to continue his fast and furious stints with the ball.