Not Tendulkar Or Lara, But This Sri Lankan Legend Used To Bother Shoaib Akhtar Most, Will Be Surprised To Hear Name

Shoaib Akhtar has described Sri Lanka's legendary spinner Muralitharan as the toughest batsman, not Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara. Also, he called Jonny Bairstow of England an overrated batsman.

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Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, popularly known as Rawalpindi Express, has described Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan as the toughest batsman he ever bowled to. Not Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara or any other great batsman. He said that he found it most difficult to bowl in front of Muralitharan. Also, Akhtar told that while batting, Muralitharan used to ask him to bowl at full length. In return, he also promised to give him his wicket. 

Muralitharan batted at number 11 in most matches of his career. According to Akhtar, "Bowling to Muttiah Muralitharan was the most difficult task for him. This is not joke at all. Muralitharan used to request me not to kill him. He used to say that if my bouncer hits him, he will die."

He also said, "He used to ask me to bowl at full length. He used to talk about giving his wicket in return. Whenever I would throw the ball forward, Murali would hit my ball with a hard shot and said it was a mistake. 

Called Jonny Bairstow overrated batsman

During this, Shoaib Akhtar called England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow an overrated batsman. However, Bairstow has contributed significantly to the success that England has achieved in One Day and T20 cricket since the 2015 World Cup. 

Among the batsman of today's era, he praised Indian team captain Virat Kohli, Pakistan batsman Babar Azam and England all-rounder Ben Stokes. He also said that in today's era, he would have liked to dismiss these three batsmen. Akhtar also said that the performance against India in Kolkata in 1999 is very close to his heart. In the second innings of this match, Shoaib took four wickets for 71 runs.