Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan fast bowler, was known for ruffling feathers throughout his career. The Rawalpindi Express has cracked quite a few helmets and hardly allowed batsmen to get under his skin. The speedster also has the fastest delivery in cricket up his sleeves that he churned out in the 2003 World Cup against England at the Kingsmead in Durban.

Batsmen had to think twice before coming on to the front foot while facing Shoaib. He last donned the national jersey in the 2011 World Cup where Pakistan bowed out after their semi-final loss at the hands of India at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. After his retirement, he formed his YouTube channel where he keeps on opining on several hot topics on the illustrious sport.

However, there was an instance when he got the taste of his own medicine. It was during the Cricket All-Stars Series in 2015 in the United States of America (USA) in 2015. Akhtar was a part of the Sachin’s Blasters where the legendary Sachin Tendulkar was the captain. During the second match of the series, Andrew Symonds, who was a part of Warne’s Warrior, had a surprise in store for him.

Symonds surprises Shoaib Akhtar

When Akhtar’s team was chasing 263, Shoaib got a chance to face Symonds, who was bowling off-spin. The Blasters lost seven wickets and needed 71 runs off the last four balls. It’s then that Andrew gave Akhtar the shocker, bowling a vicious bouncer. Shoaib wasn’t wearing a helmet and he was caught completely off-guard. The leather missed his head by a whisker.

Not only Akhtar, very few would have seen that coming. Even Kumar Sangakkara, the keeper, was amused as the ball raced away to the boundary. Akhtar uploaded the video and said how he always felt nervous while batting. He retired pacer captioned the video and wrote, “My nervous batting moments continued even post retirement. Lol,”

Here is Shoaib’s post:

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My nervous batting moments continued even post retirement. Lol #batting #cricket #allstars

A post shared by Shoaib Akhtar (@imshoaibakhtar) on Jun 14, 2020 at 3:38pm PDT

Akhtar didn’t have a great record as a batsman, but once he surprised England with his batting prowess. In the match where he bowled the fastest ball, he scored 43 off 16 balls with five fours and three sixes. It remains to be the highest score by a number 11 in ODIs in World Cup.