Popularly known as the Rawalpindi express, Shoaib Akhtar was born on 13th August 1975. He is recognized around the world as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. Akhtar was nicknamed as the "Rawalpindi Express" and "Tiger" as a tribute to his hometown and fast bowling. He is also the first bowler to break the 100-mph mark, achieving it twice in his career. Akhtar is recognized as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a world record top speed of 161.3 km/h during a group stage match against England during the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

Popularly known as the Rawalpindi express, Shoaib Akhtar was born on 13th August 1975. He is recognized around the world as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. Akhtar was nicknamed as the "Rawalpindi Express" and "Tiger" as a tribute to his hometown and fast bowling. He is also the first bowler to break the 100-mph mark, achieving it twice in his career. Akhtar is recognized as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a world record top speed of 161.3 km/h during a group stage match against England during the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

Akhtar's explosive bowling started in 1999 during a series against India, just two years after his debut and then his style of bowling started spreading like wildfire. His most memorable performance during his initial days in International cricket was in India in 1999 when he captured eight wickets in the Asian Test championship match at Calcutta including the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. He dismissed Tendulkar in the very first ball that he ever bowled to him. He achieved tremendous success in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 and the series against Australia in 2002. People were mesmerized by his raw pace, his long run-up, and his explosive bouncers. The greatest of batsmen sat down to notice what this new bowler from Pakistan could do. Soon, He became a walking nightmare for all the batsmen in World cricket.

Akhtar made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on 28th March 1998. Akhtar, since then has played in 163 international matches from which he has scalped 247 wickets since then at an economy rate of 4.77 with 4 five-wicket hauls to his name. His best figures in match is 6/16.

Shoaib Akhtar made his test debut against West Indies at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 29th November 1997. Since his debut, Akhtar has played in 46 matches for Pakistan and has scalped 178 wickets at an economy rate of 3.37 and a career average of 25.7. He has 2 ten-wicket hauls and 12 five-wicket hauls under his belt in the longest format of the game. His career best figures in an innings is 6/11 and 11/78 in a match.

Shoaib Akhtar made his debut in the IPL for the KKR - Kolkata in the inaugural edition of the league and played only 3 matches in that season taking 5 wickets at an economy rate of 8.15. His best figures in match stands at 4/11 in the match against the Delhi Daredevils.

Akhtar made his T20 debut against England at the County ground on 28th August 2006. Akhtar has only played 15 T20 matches in his illustrious career for Pakistan and has scalped 19 wickets. His best figures in match is 3/38 and his career economy rate stands at 8.15.

One cannot judge the charisma of his bowling by looking at his stats because his stats speak too less about him and he is a lot more than that to world cricket. Shoaib Akhtar walked into the team at a time when legends like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram were already helmed as the biggest names for Pakistan. Shoaib Akhtar came in and redefined fast bowling for the world. He showed how lethal can one bowler become to even the world’s greatest batsmen. His skills, his pace his unplayable bouncers and his famous run-up from the pavilion end – these are some things which are irreplaceable in world cricket forever.