5 Cricketers who have played international cricket with physical disabilities

Cricket as a sport is one of the career options where staying healthy is essential. Nowadays, when every sport is getting more competitive, a player's career is mostly determined by their level of fitness. 

Under such conditions, one of the most unbelievable things a player can do is play at the greatest level while disabled. On the other hand, there have been cases where disabled cricket players have advanced to the highest levels of national representation. Players like them who tend to follow their passions inspire future generations.

Today, we take a look at five such inspiring cricketers who defeated their disabilities to follow their passion for playing cricket.

Here are 5 Cricketers who have played with physical disabilities:

5. Shoaib Akhtar

When the Rawalpindi Express steamed in from that unusually long run-up, many batsmen questioned their career decision. Shoaib Akhtar was a terrifying figure at his peak. On the outside, he appeared to be built for cricket. But the truth was quite different. The first disability Shoaib had was that he was flat-footed, which made running hard for him. 

But the most debilitating disability he suffered was hyperextension in his joints which caused the filling of fluids in his knees, which led to swelling and excruciating pain. Akhtar revealed that he couldn’t even walk till he was five due to knee issues. He also said that he regularly had to remove fluid from his knees in between innings and intervals. 

Still, Akhtar managed to break the 100-mph barrier and picked up 178 wickets in 48 Tests and 247 wickets in 163 ODIs. 

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