Shoaib Akhtar Admits Bowling Beamer At MS Dhoni 'Purposely' In 2006 Faisalabad Test

Shoaib Akhtar has been part of some controversial incidents during his playing days and has admitted to few others after his retirement. In a recent revelation, Shoaib Akhtar admitted that he bowled the beamer at MS Dhoni purposely during the 2006 Faisalabad Test between India and Pakistan.

MS Dhoni was onsong in the match as he also went on to notch up 148 runs off 153 balls. He had already taken on Akhtar and hit him all over the park which left the fast bowler frustrated. As a result, the frustrated, Rawalpindi Express bowled a beamer at MS Dhoni and also apologised to him.

14 years later now, Shoaib Akhtar has admitted that he bowled the beamer intentionally at Dhoni. He, however, said that it was an one-off incident and the first time in his life and he shouldn’t have done it.

“I think I had bowled a 8-9 over spell in Faisalabad. It was a quick spell and Dhoni scored a hundred. I purposely bowled a beamer to Dhoni and then apologised to him,” Shoaib Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“It was the first time in my life I had bowled a beamer purposely. I shouldn’t have done it. I regretted it a lot. He was playing so well and the wickets were so slow. However fast I was bowling, he kept on hitting. I think I got frustrated,” he added.

It was high scoring encounter which ended in a draw with Team India fast bowler RP Singh awarded the man of the match award for his brilliant bowling performance.

From there on, Dhoni has only grown as a cricketer. He made a big name for himself by making the country proud with his achievements after coming from the cricketing backwaters of Ranchi. He has achieved immense success as a player and also grew up to be one of the most successful captains and achieved almost everything the ICC tournaments had to offer.