Shoaib Akhtar Picks Top 10 ODI Cricketers from India And Pakistan

Born on 13 August 1975, Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani cricketer who has played in all the three formats of the game. Akhtar earned the nickname “Rawalpindi Express” as he hails from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

The right-handed fast bowler is famously known for his fastest delivery in the history of cricket. The delivery was as fast as 161.3 km/h and it was bowled against 2003 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Akhtar made his Test debut in November 1997 as an opening fast bowler. His debut was modest as he managed to pick only 2 wickets. He was subsequently included in the tour of South Africa during the winter of 1998, where he bowled at a pace to take 5/43 and help Pakistan win in South Africa for the first time.

Akhtar’s run on average performances started during the pre-World Cup series against India in 1999. It was followed by high-class bowling performance in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. He was selected for the Pakistan team against Australia in 2002, where he managed to achieve a small amount of success.

After this, the Pakistan team performed poorly during the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and after the tournament, he was dropped from the Pakistan squad. He was selected back into the Pakistan squad as they had a choice in the 2003 Test series against New Zealand.

In 2005, Akhtar regained his reputation as a fast bowler on his side. In a three-Test home series against England, he made some impressive bowling performances. His bowling skills combined with the effective use of slower deliveries proved to be unplayable by the batsmen of England.

When it comes to records, Akhtar has two ten-wicket hauls credited to him, both of them coming in 2003. One of them came in a home game against Bangladesh and the other in an away game against New Zealand. Also, he has been awarded the man of the match title twice in test cricket and ten times in T20 cricket. Plus, he is the first bowler to break the 100mph record twice.

Shoaib Akhtar retired from cricket after the 2011 World Cup. In September 2011 he released his autobiography, Controversially Yours. After that, he has appeared in many TV shows across India and Pakistan, including Mazak Mazak hai, Comedy Nights with Kapil, Game On Hai, and Geo Khelo Pakistan.

Needless to say, the former Pakistan player’s team and India share a great rivalry in cricket. Whenever there is a high voltage match between India and Pakistan, millions of cricket fans of both the teams are more than eager to watch their favourite players on the field. Also, online cricket betting apps are usually flooded with bettors at this time, as many people think that betting on a player or a team is a good way to show support. Many cricket fans also take advantage of cricketbettingtips.io and other online resources to get the best tips and improve their odds of winning.

Over the years, Pakistan and India have had many great matches. However, due to political tensions between both the countries, they haven’t played a lot of matches in recent years. You can find these two teams in front of each other only during the ICC tournaments of the Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was played back in 2012, and the last test between the two sides was played way back in 2007. 

Sachin Tendulkar and Saeed Anwar to be the openers

In a recent interaction on Helo app, Shoaib was asked to pick 10 top ODI players from Pakistan and India together. The Akhtar ODI XI includes of four Indians and six Pakistanis in the top 10 list.

Without a doubt, the first player he chose was Sachin Tendulkar. With 2,526 runs from 69 matches at an average of 40.09, Sachin is the highest run-scorer for India against Pakistan. Akhtar then went with Rahul Dravid, as he is the second-highest run-scorer against Pakistan with 1,899 runs. Then, there were Virendra Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, who have a terrific record against Pakistan in all formats. However, it’s surprising to note that Shoaib omitted Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, and Rohit Sharma, all of whom have an outstanding record against Pakistan.

From the Pakistan side, Shoaib selected two solid batsmen Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Saeed Anwar is most notable for scoring 194 runs against India in Chennai in 1997, the highest score for that time, and now the tenth highest individual score in an ODI. Inzamam-ul-Haq is fifth in the all-time list of the highest run-scorers, with 11,739 runs from 378 matches.

As for the all-rounder, Akhtar chose Abdul Razzaq, and Saqlain Mushtaq was chosen as the spinner. In terms of pacers, he went with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Shoaib Akhtar’s Top 10 ODI cricketers from India and Pakistan: Sachin Tendulkar, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Abdul Razzaq, Yuvraj Singh, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis.