- Shoaib Akhtar has told a sports channel how Sourav Ganguly stood for him in IPL
- While the head coach questioned his fitness Ganguly said Shoaib was always unfit
- Akhtar took five wickets in three matches he played for KKR
Pakistan’s ace pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed while reminiscing hisdays playing for the Indian Premier League (IPL) that Sourav Ganguly persisted for his inclusion in the playing XI will the John Buchanan was thinking otherwise due to his fitness. While Akhtar had a glittering cricket career, he was one of the most injury prone players and would oftenmiss out on play due to injuries.
The 46-year-old appeared before an interview with the Sportskeeda where he shared stories from the time when he participated in the Ipl in 2008. The bowler was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) whose captain at time was Ganguly. When he joined the KKR camp, Akhtar was serving a ban imposed by the PC and could not participate ni the initial matches and was only available for the last three games. But his participation was questioned by the head coach Buchanan who deemed him unfit for participation. But it was Ganguly who made sure that he play revealed Shoaib.
“I was serving a ban when I joined the KKR camp and hadn’t played matches. John Buchanan told Sourav Ganguly that he doesn’t think I am fit enough. To which Ganguly replied that he has always been unfit. Don’t worry about him. It will be okay even if he’s half unfit,”
The right-arm fast bowler managed to take five wickets in the three games he played including a four-for against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). Notably, he hasn’t played much T20I cricket. In the 15 matches he has played for Pakistan, he had bagged 19 wickets. Amid political tensions, Pakistan players never participated in the Indian T20 festival after2008.
Shoaib Akhta took retirement from international cricket in 2011 but the fast bowler often finds i=himself in the news since he often likes to make bold claims and statements.
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