Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, during a recent chat, revealed that one player kept hitting him 'for sixes batting down the order.' Akhtar and former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh were involved in a rapid-fire event, on Sportskeeda. During the chat Akhtar made a sensational claim.
The question
Akhtar and Harbhajan were testing each other’s knowledge of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Akhtar asked Harbhajan if he remembered who took the first-ever hat-trick in the history of IPL. The former Indian spinner was given three options to choose from- Lakshmipathy Balaji, Amit Mishra and Makhaya Ntini. Harbhajan had chosen Amit Mishra but the World Cup-winning Indian spinner was wrong as Balaji was the first bowler to claim a hat-trick in the history of IPL.
Later, the 46-year-old former Pakistan pacer recalled his experiences of playing against Balaji.
Akhtar's claim
"Sachin was not comfortable. The entire Indian team couldn't play me but this one guy, Balaji kept hitting me for sixes batting down the order," said Akhtar.
Notably, Balaji had claimed the first-ever hat-trick of IPL against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) while bowling the final over of the match. The former Indian pacer picked up the wickets of Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh to achieve the remarkable feat.
Interestingly, Akhtar also featured in the inaugural edition of IPL. The former Pakistan pacer was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise in the 2008 edition of IPL.
The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ made his international debut back in 1997, against West Indies. On the other hand, in ODIs, he played his first match against Zimbabwe in 1998. In the shortest format of the game, Akhtar made his debut in 2006 against England.
In the longest format of the game, Akhtar played 46 matches and claimed 178 wickets. In ODIs, he represented Pakistan in 163 matches and claimed 247 wickets.
In IPL, Akhtar made his debut against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2008. In that match, he had claimed three wickets and conceded 11 runs in three overs. Akhtar’s terrific bowling display had helped KKR in that game to bundle out the opposition for a paltry total of 110. KKR eventually had managed to win the match by 23 runs.
