Apr 07, 2004 10:51 PM
3185 Views
(Updated Apr 07, 2004 11:24 PM)
''I want to be the greatest and this performance has proved yet again that I am the best fast bowler on this planet'' - Shoaib Akhtar said after his performance which crushed Australia by 91 runs in the third and the deciding one-day international to clinch three-match series 2-1 in the year 2002.
Today in less then 2 years he finds himself in the dust of Multan and Lahore trying hard to find that old magic of his -- was it really a magic or fluke?
I won't say fluke, but he has already lost his magic of reverse swing and beamers that scared so many batsmen arround the world in his early days of cricket.
The legendary bowler Jeff Thompson once remarked that he finds a glimpse of himself in Akhtar. The same way as Don Bradman found Sachin Tendulkar's batting similar to his.
Shoaib Akhtar fancies speed and thinks - that's the best way to attack a batsmen!!
They say when a horse gets obsessed with his speed, he has to be curtailed -- But how? One can either saddle a horse or set him free to explore.
In Shoaib's case, he has to use speed as secondary option as opposed to bowling a good length and line, which should be his primary aim.
As has been proved again and again in cricket, speed cannot win you matches but your brains would. Not to mention what happened to Brett Lee in India-Australia series last year!!!
For now it looks this Rawalpindi Express has been derailed from the track because when you speed at 150 MPH constantly you only bump!!!!
Hope we see a new Avtaar of this cricketer because as Jeff Thompson had said once about him - ''Akhtar is exciting to the game and the best thing about him is that when he bowls he tries to bowl quick every ball ''
