When I Like Someone I Throw Them- Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan tearaway fast bowler, revealed how he was ignorant of his strength which led to him injuring the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and many others, adding that his ways of showing affection can be a bit ‘rough’.

Akhtar recalled how he once broke Yuvraj Singh’s back, Shahid Afridi’s ribs, and stretched Abdul Razzaq’s hamstring while showing his affection towards them.

“I don’t wrestle, it’s my way of showing my affection to other people and I basically crossed the line. When I like someone, I throw them,” Shoaib Akhtar said on BBC’s Doosra podcast.

“I broke Yuvraj’s back, have previously broken Shahid Afridi’s rib by hugging him, and I made Abdul Razzaq stretch his hamstring a bit too much. So my way of loving people is a bit wild. It was just me being stupid in my younger days but I never realised my own power,” he added.

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‘Bhajji and Yuvi are my younger brothers’- Shoaib Akhtar

Akhtar has previously spoken about his with former Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, where he claimed that the duo are like his younger brothers and that there is no question of ‘beating them up’

“We were horsing around and doing some arm wrestling and that was all but Bhajji and Yuvi are my younger brothers and there is no question of beating them up,” he had said.

Shoaib Akhtar scripted history in 2003 when he became the first bowler to break the 100 mph barrier. The former fast bowler recalled the training that he did to achieve that but also added that the achievement was a mere ‘cricketing gimmick’, one that was blown out of proportion by the media.

“Breaking the 100 mph barrier wasn’t a big deal to me. It was just media hype, an international cricket gimmick. I wasn’t getting paid for this – to break my bones trying to bowl that fast. I just thought ‘For heaven’s sake, I need to finish this and just do it.’ So I planned it all out, I started training for it,” Akhtar added.

“I also used to bowl from 26 yards with something much heavier than a cricket ball. When I came back to the 22 yards, I was about 6km/h (3.7mph) quicker,” he recalled.

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