Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has picked up three greatest cricketers of all time. Akhtar made the comment while paying a tribute to spin wizard Shane Warne, who passed away a couple of days earlier.
The former Australian cricketer Warne was just 52 years old when he breathed his last while holidaying in Thailand. The news caught the entire cricket fraternity in a state of shock with people struggling to grasp the passing away of Shane Warne.
Shoaib Akhtar recently paid tributes to the departing soul and called him as one of the greatest cricketers. The former cricketer also picked up Wasim Akram and Sachin Tendulkar in the list of three greatest players.
Speaking on Tanmay Bhat’s show on YouTube, Akhtar said:
“He was a large hearted person. He would be a good friend, always ready to help. And such a great bowler.”
He added:
“He had a fast bowler hidden inside him, he was that kind of a spinner. I was very sad to hear about his passing. He went too early. The greatest three players for me are Wasim, Shane Warne and Sachin.”
“I would have chopped his head off” – Shoaib Akhtar on Ricky Ponting
Got plenty of questions the other day after calling the Flintoff over the best I'd faced.
This from @shoaib100mph was the fastest spell I'd ever faced and trust me Justin wasn't backing up too far at the other end. pic.twitter.com/JhhuEwXrAc
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) April 15, 2020
One of the fastest bowlers to have played the game, Akhtar has opened up on his fierce rivalry with Ricky Ponting during Pakistan’s tour of Australia in 1999 at the WACA.
Shoaib Akhtar stated that if not Ponting, he would have chopped off the head of the batsman. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, he said:
“During the Test match, I thought [if nothing is happening] let’s hurt somebody. That’s why I bowled the fastest spell. I wanted to see if Ricky can match my pace and I was purposely bowling bouncers [to] see if I could beat him but before that I had never beaten him with my sheer pace.”
The 46-year-old added:
“Had it not been Ricky Ponting … I would have chopped his [the batsman’s] head off because it was furiously fast.”
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