Rahul Dravid was more difficult to bowl than Sachin Tendulkar: Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s face-off with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid created a lot of buzz around the cricket world. Even as Akhtar was a tough prospect to deal with, Sachin and Dravid used to put prize tag on their wickets. In his heydays, Shoaib could ruffle the feathers of the best and in their prime, Dravid and Sachin made bowlers work tirelessly for dismissing them.

In international cricket, the Pakistan fast bowler got rid of Sachin and Dravid eight and nine times respectively. The legendary Indian batters didn’t score many runs off him either. Back in February 1999, the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata was stunned in silence after Akhtar pinned Dravid and Sachin with yorkers on consecutive balls. In fact, Sachin got a golden duck in that encounter.

Shoaib Akhtar opines

In the meantime, the 44-year-old Akhtar said that bowling to Dravid, popularly known as ‘The Wall’ was much difficult to dislodge than Sachin. “Dravid was more difficult to bowl than Sachin,” Shoaib was quoted as saying in an interactive session on Helo App. In the 2003 World Cup, Tendulkar carted Akhtar to the boundary before the latter got the Master Blaster out in the 90s.

Here’s a glimpse of Shoaib dismissing Sachin and Dravid

The Rawalpindi Express also said that he shares a healthy camaraderie with Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh among the Indian cricketers. “Harbhajan and Yuvraj are good friends in Indian team,” the Punjab-born Shoaib stated.

Shoaib also expressed his desire to form a team, based on his hometown Rawalpindi, in the Pakistan Super League. “Would like to form Rawalpindi Express team in PSL,” he added. In the previous edition of the T20 tournament, the venue at Rawalpindi hosted a few matches and it was jam-packed. The quality of matches also impressed the fans present at the ground.

Apart from his wishes regarding the PSL, Akhtar wants to coach the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Back in 2008, he played three matches for the franchise and also got the Player of the Match award with a four-wicket haul against the Delhi Daredevils, now Capitals. Moreover, Shoaib hopes to coach Team India in the future and produce fiery fast bowlers like him.