PAK vs AUS: Shoaib Akhtar Recalls His Face-Off With Ricky Ponting In 1999 Test Series Against Australia

Australia are currently playing in Pakistan in a Test series. This is the first time, that the side has toured the country after 24 years. The last time both these sides played in Australia was in 1999, Ricky Ponting and Shoaib Akhtar had a memorable face-off.

Australia whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in the series with Ponting scoring nearly 200 runs in the series while Akhtar took six wickets from three matches. The former Pakistan pace recalled his most memorable duels against Australia triggering flashbacks of that fiery duel with former captain Ricky Ponting in the 1999 Test in Perth.

Wanted To See If Ricky Ponting Can Match My Pace: Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan were trailing 0-2 in the series and centuries from Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist helped the side chase down 369 in Hobart. In the third test in Perth Shoaib Akhtar was adamant about winning the Test match for Pakistan. The bouncy Perth track was all ready to support him.

“During the Test match, I thought [if nothing is happening] let’s hurt somebody. That’s why I bowled the fastest spell. I wanted to see if Ricky can match my pace and I was purposely bowling bouncers [to] see if I could beat him but before that I had never beaten him with my sheer pace” Akhtar said in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald.

Shoaib Akhtar was a part of the 1998 Pakistan squad that hosted Australia in their own country. Akhtar went on to say that the Aussie crowd loved his hostile fast bowling on his next trip to the country in 2005.

“[They loved] my aggression because they think I am a Pakistani who has the attitude of an Australian,” Akhtar says. “I gave it to them. In the 2005 series, me and [Justin] Langer got into a fight. Me and [Matt] Hayden got into a fight. It’s verbal, not physical. I wanted to display my talent [and show] that I am better than you” said Akhtar.

Meanwhile, the two-Test match series between the two sides ended in a draw with Babar Azam scoring his career-best 196 in the second test. The two teams now play three ODIs and a one-off T20I in Lahore.

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