He was a menace with the ball in his hands and rattled the opposition like no one else. Nicknamed, the “Rawalpindi Express” for his pace, Akhtar mongered fears in batsmen with his express pace and line. A proud owner of over 400 international wickets, Akhtar is revered as one of the best and most dangerous fast bowlers of all time. But terrorising batsmen with his pace, vicious bouncers and toe-crushing yorkers wasn’t the only thing Akhtar liked doing in a cricket field. The 44-year-old Pakistan cricket great expressed his love for batting in nets in his latest social media post. Akhtar, who has been very vocal in his opinion, ever since retiring from cricket has been engaging with fans through his social media channels. Shoaib Akhtar Questions India-Pakistan Cricket Ban, Amid 'Tamatar, Pyaz' Business.

“I used to enjoy batting in the nets once in a while,” said the former paceman who once hit a 16-ball 43 in an ODI match against England. Pakistan lost that game by a massive 112 runs with Akhtar, who came to bat as a No 11, the team’s highest run-scorer. His knock of 43 included five boundaries and three maximums and Akhtar was also involved in a 54-run partnership with Saqlain Mushtaq helping Pakistan avoid the blushes after the Asian side were reduced to 80/9 at one stage.

Shoaib Akhtar Expresses Love for Batting

That wasn’t, however, the only Akhtar showed the world glimpses of his batting skills. His Test highest-score is 47 and next best is 45 both of which came against India during the 2006 tour. Akhtar, whose career was mostly jeopardised by injuries, played 46 Test matches, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is for Pakistan and took 178 Test wickets, 247 in ODIs and 21 in Twenty20 internationals respectively.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2020 10:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).