My Goodness, the Speed That Akhtar Bowled in That Series: Pietersen Recalls Horrors of 2005 Series

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen recalls how a sledge by Andrew Flintoff during the ICC Super Series in 2005, fired up Shoaib Akhtar, and how it eventually led to England's downfall in the series against Pakistan later that year.

Talking with Pommie Mbangwa on Instagram, Pietersen revealed how pumped up Akhtar was during the series.

“[My] first proper tour abroad was Pakistan, straight after the 2005 Ashes,” Pietersen said.

“That was frightening, the speed Shoaib Akhtar bowled in that series, my goodness. We played the World Series [Super Series] in Australia a couple of weeks before that, and I remember sitting at MCG – we were the World XI and we had everyone: [Brian] Lara, [Muttiah] Muralitharan, [Andrew] Flintoff, [Graeme] Smith, [Jacques] Kallis. I was sitting there going, ‘Oh my goodness, should I be sitting here, let alone be playing in this team?'”

Pietersen saw Flintoff take on his teammate during a practice session, calling Akhtar a Tarzan.

“I remember it was quite funny – Shoaib was struggling with his knee, and he wasn’t bowling as quick. And Freddie turned to him and said, ‘Shoaib, it’s no use looking like Tarzan and bowling like Jane, buddy’. And you could see Shoaib took this to heart.”

Come the Test series, Akhtar managed to pick up 17 wickets in three Tests, as England lost the series 2-0.

“My goodness, the speed that Shoaib Akhtar bowled in that series. Oh my word, crazy. He was bowling faster at 5 o’clock in the afternoon than what he was bowling in the morning!”