Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar was known for troubling the batters with uncomfortable short-pitched deliveries and bouncers throughout his career. Akhtar recently revealed why he enjoyed bouncing the ball even on flat surfaces.
During an interview with the former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif, Akhtar said that he had the pace, and as a fast bowler he always wanted to hit the batters on the head because it gave him more joy.
“I bowled bouncers because watching batters jump like monkeys was heartening to see. Not going to lie, I wanted to hit batters on the head as I had the pace. This is the perk of being a fast bowler, it simply has to happen.”
The Rawalpindi Express was regarded as one of the most difficult bowlers to face during his career. He used to give nightmares to many world-class batters with accurate bouncers. He injured the likes of Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly, and many more.
Shoaib Akhtar went on to say that bowling bouncers should be in every pacer’s blood because it gives bowlers a psychological advantage over batters by instilling fear in them, and it was this mindset that elevated him to the status of a wicket-taker.
“The adrenaline rush is there, the hair is flying, the heartbeat is 185+, you would surely not bowl fuller. It should hit on the body, aalu dikhe jism pe. Whenever the batter sees himself in the mirror, he should remember me. This is true love,” he added.
Akhtar appeared in 224 international games and took 444 wickets. However, due to his frequent injuries, he was unable to play for very long, but he will be remembered as one of the game’s greats.
