Shoaib Akhtar has taken 178 wickets at an average of 25.69 in his test career
Shoaib Akhtar (born on 13 August 1975 in Rawalpindi, Punjab) is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, also known as the “Rawalpindi Express”. At present, he is the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. His official world record was achieved when he bowled at the speed of 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) against England and did it twice in the match. He has the ability to bowl speedy yorkers, quick bouncers and slower full-toss deliveries which made him one of the best fast bowlers in cricket. Akhtar has been in and out of the team several times due to his controversial career. He made his Test debut against West Indies at Rawalpindi on November/December 1997 and has taken 178 wickets at an average of 25.69 in his test career. His memorable performance was against India in the Asian Test championship match at Calcutta in 1999 when he clean bowled the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and the wall Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries.
Shoaib Akhtar has clean bowled the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and the wall Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries.
Here is a list of his top 10 Test performances:
1. Shoaib Akhtar accumulated 6 wickets for 11 runs against New Zealand at Lahore on May 1, 2002 and bowled 8.2 overs with 4 maidens at an economy rate of 1.32. He achieved his best bowling figures in the 2nd innings of the match.
2. Akhtar bagged 6 wickets for 30 runs in the 3rd innings of the match against New Zealand at Wellington on December 26, 2003 and bowled 18 overs with 3 maidens at an economy rate of 1.66.
3. Rawalpindi Express bowled 22.5 overs with 4 maidens at an economy rate of 2.18 and pocketed 6 wickets for 50 runs against Bangladesh at Peshawar on August 27, 2003. It was in the 1st innings of the match.
4. In the 3rd innings of the match, he grabbed 5 wickets for 21 runs at an economy rate of 2.62againstAustralia at Colombo (PSS) on October 3, 2002 and bowled 8 overs including 2 maidens.
5. Shoaib bowled 16 overs, out of which 7 were maidens and took 5 wickets for 24 runs at an economy rate of 1.5 in the 4th innings of the match against West Indies at Sharjah on January 31, 2002.
6. Akhtar fetched 5 wickets for 43 runs in the 2nd innings of the match against South Africa at Durban on February 26, 1998 and bowled 12 overs with 1 maiden at an economy rate of 3.58.
7. It was the 1st innings of the match in which he pocketed 5 wickets for 48 runs and bowled 20.3 overs with 5 maidens at an economy rate of 2.34 against New Zealand at Wellington on December 26, 2003.
8. Shoaib Akhtar bowled 19 overs with 3 maidens at an economy rate of 3.15 in the 1st innings of the match and accumulated 5 wickets for 60 runs against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad on October 20, 2004.
9. He bagged 5 wickets for 71 runs in the 3rd innings of the match at an economy rate of 3.73 against England at Lahore on November 29, 2005 and bowled 19 overs with 3 maidens.
10. Rawalpindi Express bowled 24.3 overs, out of which 3 were maidens at an economy rate of 3.06 and achieved bowling figures of 5 wickets for 75 runs in the 1st innings of the match against Sri Lanka at Peshawar on March 5, 2000.
Based on data provided by Cricinfo as of September 28th, 2011
