Shoaib Akhtar claims to have started bowling reverse swing at the age of 16 in 1991

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar was one of the quickest bowlers of his time. Shoaib Akhtar was a nightmare for any batsman in the world at that time. Shoaib Akhtar was simply unplayable when he got going. With his lethal pace and swing, he wreaked havoc during his peak. The right-arm pacer just like his playing days is now hurling bouncers off the field as well with his sensational claims and revelations.

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Shoaib Akhtar says he always knew he could replace Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis

Recently, Shoaib Akhtar has made a sensational claim saying that he used to reverse swing the bowl at the young age of 16. The 'Rawalpindi Express' added that people felt threatened by his aura and that is the reason why they tried dragging him in numerous controversies.

While speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Shoaib Akhtar recalled the time when people used to call him mad for thinking that he could replace the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who were the best bowlers in the world at that time. Shoaib Akhtar further revealed that people used to say that there are thousands of bowlers like him who have come and left. The Rawalpindi-born cricketer used to reply every time by saying that they never had the attitude like him. He added that when he will run in to bowl, he will own the ground by taking wickets.

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Although many doubted Shoaib Akhtar even then, the former fast bowler claimed that he was not perturbed since he had learnt the trade of taking wickets. He added that at the age of 16 he used to reverse swing the ball in the nets. Shoaib Akhtar, who never fails to praise himself, credited 7-8 bowlers from Pakistan for his success in international cricket.

Shoaib Akhtar revealed that he used to be part of that crop of bowlers but was the slowest amongst the lot and so he started picking a quality each from them like how to sprint from one of them, learnt the bowling action from another, learnt the art of peaking from one, then training sense of one and learnt how to gym from another one. He added that once he came to the top, most of the people knew his capacity and understood that he could do wonders and if he steered clear of controversies, then he could reach to another level.

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Waqar Younis calls for India-Pakistan bilateral series

Amongst Pakistan fast bowlers, Waqar Younis also made headlines recently by claiming that both India and Pakistan should play regular bilateral series to avoid deprived cricket lovers of both countries. Waqar Younis asked the series to be named as 'Kapil-Imran' referring to the great captains of both teams or the Independence series, foreseeing the two countries playing a bilateral series in the coming years.

However, Waqar Younis refrained from claiming when that will happen but hoped that it happened in either of the two countries. India last played Pakistan in a bilateral series in 2012.  Recently, 'Waqar Younis quits Twitter' made headlines since the former Pakistan captain's account was hacked, which resulted in fans going into a frenzy after the hacker liked a visually disturbing post from his account.

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