Shoaib Akhtar was the fastest bowler of his generation. The right-arm pacer shot to fame when he dismissed Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar off successive balls during the 1999 Test in Kolkata. Since then he was given the moniker of ‘Rawalpindi Express’ for his extreme pace.
The right-arm pacer made his ODI debut in 1998 at Harare versus Zimbabwe. He went onto play 163 matches and picked up 247 wickets for his side. In his debut game, Shoaib Akhtar bowled five overs for ten runs and picked the wicket of Andy Flower.
His biggest claim to fame was bowling the fastest ball in cricketing history. The feat was achieved during the 2003 ODI World Cup where Shoaib Akhtar bowled the ball at 161.3 KPH to Nick Knight to become the fastest bowler in the world.
Here are the top three performances by Shoaib Akhtar in ODI World Cups
3- 3/11 vs Scotland – Riverside -1999
At the height of his emergence, Shoaib Akhtar got 3/11 in the game against Scotland to help Pakistan to an easy win. The spell was quick and he was constantly clocking over 90 Miles per hour. His victims that day were M Smith, I Philip, and G Salmond. This helped Pakistan register an easy win in the group phase match of the 1999 ODI World Cup.
2- 3/55 vs New Zealand – Manchester
It was the semi-finals of the 1999 ODI World Cup and Shoaib Akhtar had reserved his best for the biggest match. His wickets that day included that of Nathan Astle who couldn’t handle the pace from the Pakistani star. The wicket of skipper Stephen Fleming was followed by the scalp of Chris Harris as Pakistan won the match and entered the finals where they lost to Australia.
1- 4/46 vs Namibia – Diamond Oval
Just days after setting the new record for the fastest ball in the world, Pakistan took on Namibia in the 2003 ODI World Cup game. The match saw Shoaib Akhtar register his best-ever World Cup figures of 4/46 as he dismantled the Namibian batting unit with his pace and accurate bowling.