He was fast, faster than fast!

 He was fast, faster than fast!

When the ball came out of his hands, it was as if he was on fire. Then he was also angry, and a little lost, a typical Angry Young Man!

When he came to get out, the greatest batsman in the world would not be able to tick. 

At a time when cricket was becoming increasingly batsman-friendly, he was the last glimpse of fast bowling. After that, the era of fast bowling was over, perhaps forever.

We are talking about the fastest bowler in history "Shoaib Akhtar".

As was his cricket career. His life story is even more strange and this is the story we will tell you today. So let's go to the life of Shoaib Akhtar.

One lakh vs 11

This is Kolkata's Eden Gardens, mid-February, 1999. The match is between India and Pakistan. With more than a hundred thousand spectators in the arena, the noise is deafening. 

There was also a young man in this commotion, only 23 years old. He had a total experience of only 8 matches and now he was facing the biggest test of his life because in front of him was the best batting line in the world which included VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin as well as Saroo. Gangli too and above all Sachin Tendulkar.

In front of this batting line, the elders were sweating, but the youth did not panic. He had confidence and a lot of it. Collars stood up, chest buttons unbuttoned, eyes glaring and steps quickened.

He took the big wicket of VVS Laxman in the first spell. But now 50 overs had passed, India had scored 147 runs for two wickets. Pakistan wanted a wicket immediately. 

The ball was then delivered once again to the youngster, who in that over bowled the ball that hit the "wall", clean-bowling Rahul Dravid.

But millions of people in the field didn't care. Who got out? How did it come out? 

Why was he out and who was out? Their eyes were only towards the pavilion, from where "he" was about to leave. 

"He" that people were eager to catch a glimpse of.

And "He" entered the fray: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The spectators raised the sky with the chants of Sachin Sachin but no one had any idea what was going to happen on the next ball. 

What is a young man, whom people did not know much, going to do? Then he bowled that ball, a ball that was a masterpiece from the sky, "a perfect ball" that blew away Sachin Mahan in the blink of an eye!

One who had never been dismissed on a first-ball duck before. He got to eat an egg for breakfast. And yes! Just a hair ago, the sound was not heard in the field. 

There was silence now, and the young man who had caused the silence was raising both hands in the air in celebration. Shoaib Akhtar's arrival was announced!

Early life

But the journey to get here started a long time ago.

About 2 thousand kilometers away from this field in Rawalpindi and almost 24 years ago, on August 13, 1975, Shoaib Akhtar was born. The fifth son of his parents. The weakest, sickest child.

He didn't even have his own name. The son who was born before him was originally named Shoaib. But he died in childhood. The mother also named her son Shoaib in his memory. It was a heavy name, but little Shoaib kept it.

Well, we were talking about this weak and sick child. The child had another problem: he was flatfooted. He was three years old but could not walk. To make matters worse, he also developed whooping cough. 

This disease increased so much that the family became hopeless. But the mother did not lose heart, Shoaib finally survived with her love, compassion and constant treatment.

Then the weak child began to gain strength and hold such that the one who could not walk, began to walk but ran. Also running so that no one in the whole region could compete with him. 

He started doing everything running, running for no reason. Think he was the Forrest Gump of his time.

As the age increased, Shoaib's mischief also increased. Then the child is from Pindi and you do not steal kites? 

How can this happen? Shoaib also used to run after kites in the streets of Pindi. 

There was no one as naughty and mischievous as him. Not in the neighborhood, not in the school, and not in the college. 

Most of the complaints came from him and the same thing we saw later in the cricket world, here too most of the complaints came from Shoaib.

However, Shoaib grew up and went from school to college while running in the same streets. This was the time when Imran Khan ruled the cricket world. 

Shoaib also started copying Imran Khan's bowling action. His passion for cricket grew and this passion brought him to Pindi Club.

Career start

One day a very funny incident happened in this club. Pakistani cricket team came for practice. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who were everyone's dream to watch, were playing in front of Shoaib's eyes. 

Shoaib Akhtar says that after seeing the Pakistani players, I said to my friends, "Remember today! In the next few years your brother will be playing with them.

Friends are friends. Laughed a lot at this. One of them even said that you are full of air, brother. Give us a little of it, it will fill the cycles. Whatever friends say. Shoaib was sure. And when you have the ability and believe in yourself, the way comes out.

And then the day came. It was the early days of 1994. An official of the Rawalpindi Cricket Association saw Shoaib playing.