‘ Let me ask you a question.” Shoaib Akhtar fixes me with those saucer eyes. “Tell me, truthfully, when were you happiest?”
“Erm, I’m not sure. The birth of my child?”
This feels like the right thing to say and I think might call the former fast bowler’s bluff. No chance. “Right, increase that by a thousand and it’ll be somewhere near what it feels like to bowl truly fast. If you get a wicket after all that effort, when the ball hits the stumps, the sound of it goes inside your soul and explodes like an atom bomb. That’s true happiness.”
He remains the fastest bowler on the planet. “Every time I turn on the TV, I say: ‘Is there anyone out there who can step up? Please take this record away from me, I’ll be the first to fly out and shake them by the hand.”
“The Rawalpindi Express” is in full flow. This once meant a blur of hubcap pecs and chestnut curtains steaming in from a seemingly never-ending run-up towards a terrified batsman.
Today he is working up a head of steam on a video call from his home in Pakistan. Had I been the fittest guy, I would’ve been the greatest ever.”
Shoaib took 444 international wickets in a remarkable but controversial 15-year career during which he became the first man to break the 100mph barrier, a bowler who on his day was one of the most thrilling sights the game has seen.
This story is from the November 29, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 29, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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