Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan

Full name Shoaib Akhtar
Born August 13, 1975, Rawalpindi, Punjab
Current age 31 years 200 days
Major teams Pakistan, Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan, Asia XI, Durham, ICC World XI, Khan Research Labs, Pakistan International Airlines, Rawalpindi, Somerset, Worcestershire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	43	63	12	541	47	10.60	1292	41.87	0	0	53	22	11	0
ODIs	133	65	31	344	43	10.11	468	73.50	0	0	22	10	17	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	0	0	0	0	-	0	-	0	0	0	0	1	0
First-class	123	171	47	1536	59*	12.38			0	1			37	0
List A	177	95	35	732	56	12.20			0	1			28	0
Twenty20	10	7	1	37	14	6.16	31	119.35	0	0			3	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	43	7556	4276	169	6/11	11/78	25.30	3.39	44.71	9	12	2
ODIs	133	6276	4854	208	6/16	6/16	23.33	4.64	30.17	5	4	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	24	31	1	1/31	1/31	31.00	7.75	24.00	0	0	0
First-class	123	19018	11484	440	6/11		26.10	3.62	43.22		28	2
List A	177	8406	6551	277	6/16	6/16	23.64	4.67	30.34	11	6	0
Twenty20	10	222	263	11	5/23	5/23	23.90	7.10	20.18	0	1	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Pakistan v West Indies at Rawalpindi - Nov 29-Dec 3, 1997
Last Test	South Africa v Pakistan at Port Elizabeth - Jan 19-22, 2007
ODI debut	Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Harare - Mar 28, 1998
Last ODI	England v Pakistan at Nottingham - Sep 8, 2006
Only Twenty20 Int.	England v Pakistan at Bristol - Aug 28, 2006
First-class span	1994/95 - 2006/07
List A span	1993/94 - 2006
Twenty20 span	2003 - 2006/07

Profile

Shoaib Akhtar burst onto the big stage in the 1999 World Cup with a long, hurtling run-up and blistering speed. His star status was sealed by a great flop of hair, a talent for show-boating and a vivid nickname - the Rawalpindi Express. But it was too much, too young. A huge ego and his blind ambition to break the 100mph barrier seemed to matter more to him than cementing his place in the Pakistan side, and in November 2006, he copped a two-year ban for using the banned substance, Nandrolone, but he was reprieved on appeal to the undisguised disgust of international drugs agencies.

It was the latest, but by no means the only, controversy in his chequered career. The authorities twice sidelined him over throwing allegations and although his action was cleared, courtesy of hyperextensible joints and the University of Western Australia, injuries created fresh doubts over his international future. However, he channelled his enormous resources far better in 2002, turning in two of the most blistering bowling efforts of the year, both against Australia. First, he blitzed them with a spell of 5 for 25 in a one-dayer at Brisbane, and then returned 5 for 21 in a spectacular performance in Colombo that all but won the Test. The 2003 World Cup was far more disappointing, though. He promised much, but came a cropper, especially in the needle encounter against Sachin Tendulkar. Dropped after the World Cup, Shoaib roared back to form on the tour to New Zealand, but soon after came a forgettable - and controversial - series against India. Not only did he struggle for wickets, he also left the field at a crucial stage of the third Test citing wrist injury and back pain, though neither injury seemed to bother him when he came out to bat. Shoaib felt the heat, as his commitment and his relationship with the captain and the team management came into question as well. The series began a period in which Shoaib's career came under its gravest threat. Mutterings about his commitment were never far away and a difficult relationship with Inzamam and Bob Woolmer the coach didn't make matters easier. He blew hot and cold in Australia, looking Pakistan's most incisive threat for periods but also looking their most disinterested at others. A hamstring injury cut short that tour and a potpourri of fitness, commitment and attitudinal complaints meant he missed most of Pakistan's cricket in 2005.

But, inevitably perhaps, he came back against England, finishing with 17 wickets and proving the difference between the two sides. As well as being at the peak of his powers - a concotion of lethal slower balls, yorkers and bouncers - Shoaib looked a team man to the core. Typically since then he has spent much time on the sidelines, missing tours to Sri Lanka and most of England with a combination of ankle and knee injuries. He returned to play the ODI series against England and seemed back in full flow, before again missing the last match with an injury. At the time, it seemed his rehabilitation at the end of 2005 might become one of the most significant moments in Pakistan's history. But then came the drugs furore, and the realisation it had been too good to be true.

One day captured his essence; he returned against South Africa in Durban in 2006-07, having not been picked for the series initially, took 4 for 36 in 11 overs, set up a Test win, strained a hamstring, argued with coach Bob Woolmer, and returned to Pakistan. He was in Pakistan's squad for the 2007 World Cup, but his participation was pending, on his fitness first, the results of another dope test and a strained relationship with the management.