‘Shoaib Akhtar took so many injections, he can’t even walk now’: Shahid Afridi on speedster’s class
Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi has revealed that back in his playing days, Shoaib Akhtar used to take a lot of painkilling injections. The comments came in response to the speedster’s recent comments that Shaheen Afridi should have braved the pain and bowled against England when the Pakistan team really needed him in the T20 World Cup final last year at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Shaheen has injured his knee while taking a catch of Harry Brook and could not contribute with the ball after that incident. In fact, Shaheen could bowl only 13 deliveries in that final.
His comments seem to have elicited a response from Shahid Afridi, who is the father-in-law of Shaheen.
Shoaib, while talking to a Pakistani channel recently, had said: “I would come to play. I would fall, fracture my knee, and have blood flowing down my face, but I would get up, take an injection, and resume bowling… Many would say that you’d break your knee. You will die. I would have stated that it is better to die but the World Cup is more significant. My knee would have been broken. I could fix it later but the moment would never come again.”
“Shoaib Akhtar took so many injections back then that he can’t even walk now. That is his class,” Shahid told Samaa TV. “Shoaib Akhtar is Shoaib Akhtar, and he can do it. But it is very difficult. Not everyone is Shoaib Akhtar. It’s difficult to play with an injury if you take injections and painkillers because, by doing so, you risk aggravating the injury further. Anyway, let’s leave Shoaib Akhtar alone!”
