Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar recalled the instance when he bowled a beamer to MS Dhoni deliberately. Akhtar revealed that during the 2006 Test match in Faisalabad Dhoni hit three fours in his over before he got frustrated and bowled a beamer to him and then apologised for his action.
Dhoni played an astonishing knock of 148 including 19 boundaries and four sixes to hit his maiden Test century. Meanwhile, Akhtar only managed to pick a single wicket in the Test.
Akhtar, during a conversation with former India cricketer Aakash Chopra, recalled the incident and accepted he was frustrated before bowling the beamer to Dhoni.
“I think I had bowled a 8-9 over spell in Faisalabad. It was a quick spell and Dhoni scored a hundred. I purposely bowled a beamer to Dhoni and then apologised to him,” Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.
“It was the first time in my life I had bowled a beamer purposely. I shouldn’t have done it. I regretted it a lot. He was playing so well and the wickets were so slow. However fast I was bowling, he kept on hitting. I think I got frustrated.”
The match was ended in a draw. Akhtar also talked about how he coped up with knee injury during most part of his career.
“The deer type jump gets almost finished after 2-3 years. My knees brought me to my knees. My knees had become useless in 1997. Still I kept fighting and playing, after taking injections regularly,” he added. “I remember when India had come to Pakistan, my left fibula was broken, my landing leg. MS Dhoni had scored a century at Faisalabad. What sort of wickets they had prepared, you know,” Akhtar said.
