Shoaib Akhtar mocks Virender Sehwag again, reveals toughest Indian batsman to bowl at

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has been vocal on social media in recent times, talking about various aspects and issues about the game of cricket. The ex-fast bowler, who has more than 400 wickets across all formats, was one of the most feared pacers in the world when he was at his peak. He had many great on-field rivalries against his opponents, especially with Indian players such as Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and ofcourse Sachin Tendulkar. However, there is one other Indian whom Shoaib Akhtar wished to play against and that is Virat Kohli.

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Shoaib Akhtar takes another sly dig at Virender Sehwag

In a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo, the great Pakistan fast bowler claimed that former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was someone who could not not score freely while playing against him. Shoaib Akhtar was quoted as saying "I bowled him short initially when I should have bowled the ball that's going away from him. After I figured him, he could not score much against me. I bowled him out on multiple occasions, including at the IPL and in Lahore." Akhtar and Sehwag had a fierce rivalry. The Indian did get the better of Akhtar on most instances, ending up with an average of above 70 against Pakistan solely in Test matches.

However, Akhtar was more respectful towards Rahul Dravid. On many occasions in the past, the Pakistani called Dravid as the toughest Indian batsman he has ever bowled to. The pacer claimed that it was demoralising to see a batsman played with a dead straight bat to a delivery which was extremely fast. With Dravid being someone who never seemed to give away his wicket easily, Akhtar claimed that he found it harder to bowl at Dravid more than Sehwag and Tendulkar.

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Throwback to when Shoaib Akhtar demolished Virender Sehwag's Delhi Daredevils in the IPL

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Shoaib Akhtar heaps praise on Indian captain Virat Kohli

While talking about Virat Kohli in the same interview, Shoaib Akhtar only had words of praise for the current Indian skipper. He said that both of them were ‘Punjabis with a big heart’ and he would have relished an on-field rivalry against arguably the best batsman in modern cricket. Akhtar added "We are both Punjabis with a big heart. We would have been best of friends off-field and fierce enemies on-field. With Virat if you fight, he gets more focused. So to bowl him out, I would try to get him to lose focus. I would try to get into his head. At my extreme pace, I would have instigated him to pull me or play a cut because he doesn't have these two shots. I know he loves to drive, so again at my extreme pace, I would get him to drive and would have kept talking to him in between. Something like what (James) Anderson did to him in England." 

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Shoaib Akhtar offers his condolences to the victims of the PIA plane crash