Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar  pronunciation ; born 13 August 1975) is a former Pakistani cricketer and a legendary bowler who is widely regarded as the fastest bowler of all time bowling at speeds up to 161.3 km/h. He was nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express", as a tribute to his hometown and fast bowling.

Akhtar made his Test debut in November 1997 as an opening fast bowler and played his first One Day International 3 months later.

Akhtar has been involved in several controversies during his career, often accused of not being a team player, but was also commended for significantly impacting games in Pakistan's favour. Akhtar was sent home during a Test match series in Australia in 2005 for alleged poor attitude. A year later, he was embroiled in a drug scandal after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance nandrolone. However, the ban imposed on him was lifted on appeal. In September 2007, he was banned for an indefinite period for his fight with Pakistan team mate and fast bowler Mohammad Asif. On 1 April 2008, Akhtar was banned for 5 years for publicly criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board. In October 2008, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan suspended the five-year ban and Akhtar was selected in the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 Quadrangular Tournament in Canada. Pakistani judge Rana Bhagwandas once stated that Akhtar is a legend of Pakistan cricket. Akhtar retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup.

Shoaib Akhtar (cricketer, born 1982)

Shoaib Akhtar (born 14 July 1982) is a former Pakistani cricketer. From Karachi, Shoaib played two matches at List A, both of which came for Islamabad during the 1998–99 season of the Tissot Cup. Aged only 16, earlier in the season he had played several matches for the Islamabad under-19s in the Pepsi Junior Cup, scoring two half-centuries. On this form, Shoaib was selected for Islamabad in the preliminary round of the limited-overs Tissot Cup, making his debut against Rawalpindi in April 1999. In the match, played at the Khan Research Laboratories Ground, Rawalpindi, he scored 12 runs from 31 balls, putting on a 51-run opening partnership with Ali Raza. However, in his second and final match, against Pakistan International Airlines two days later, he scored a six-ball duck. Shoaib was dropped for the teams' remaining matches in the competition, and did not play for Islamabad again.

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