World's fastest bowler, Shoaib Akhtar is celebrating his 46th birthday on 13 August 2021. The former Pakistani pacer is loved and adored by cricket fans around the world. A lot of fast-bowlers around the world consider Shoaib Akhtar to be their mentor.
Fans remember Akhtar for his performances in the early 2000s when he was at his best. The sheer pace of Akhtar with the new ball was a cause of concern for most batsmen in the 2000s.
The fast-bowler himself shared a fan-made video on his Twitter highlighting the brute nature of Akhtar's bowling. In the fast-paced video, we see Shoaib Akhtar's various clean-bowled's that involve greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting, and others. In the later part of the video, we see the likes of Lara, Ganguly being troubled by the Pak pacer.
It's the most fitting video to remember the fastest bowler on his birthday. Have a look
Shoaib Akhtar also bowled the world's fastest ball in 2003. That record still has not been broken. He bowled a 161.3 km/ph ball to England's Nick Knight during a 2003 Cricket World Cup match.
Relive that fastest delivery here:
Shoaib Akhtar, in his career, picked up 178 Test and 247 ODI wickets. Although the numbers are not as high as one would imagine, the impact of Shoaib Akhtar's career is more than the records that he built. His career was marked by many injuries, thus, the cricketer retired after the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
He has been involved in commentary and YouTube videos, ever since.