'My running days are over' - Shoaib Akhtar to have total knee replacement surgery in Melbourne

Shoaib Akhtar was known as Rawalpindi Express for the speed he used to generate while bowling. He still proudly holds the record of delivering the fastest delivery in international cricket. He clocked a massive 161.3 kph during the 2003 World Cup game against England and the record remains intact even after 18 years. The man has managed to keep himself fit even after calling it quits from all forms of game long ago.

But Akhtar’s career was marred with a lot of injuries and he had to spend a lot of time off the field as well. He also suffered a lot of injuries related to his knee as he was bowling too fast coming in a with a long run. Having said that, he, time and again, kept posting the pictures of him going for a run in a bid to stay fit.

Unforunately, Shoaib Akhtar won’t be running anymore. He is set to undergo a total knee replacement surgery and informed about the same to his fans and followers on his official Twitter handle on Sunday (November 21) evening. The 46-year-old will soon be traveling to Melbourne, Australia for surgery and will be prohibited to run after knee replacement.

“My running days are over as am leaving for total knee replacement in Australia Melbourne very soon,” Shoaib Akhtar wrote in his tweet.

My running days are over as am leaving for total knee replacement in Australia Melbourne very soon 🥲🤞. pic.twitter.com/1sO6dHESPJ

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 21, 2021

Shoaib Akhtar hogged limelight recently

Shoaib Akhtar, ever since his playing days, hogged the limelight for some or the other reasons. Even after his retirement, controversies stayed with him and the recent one was his fallout with an anchor of PTV Nauman Niaz on national TV during the T20 World Cup show. After being called ‘rude’ and asked to leave the show by Nauman, Akhtar resigned as PTV analyst and walked off.

Nauman Niaz apologised to him later as well and the matter even went up to PTV sending PKR 100 million defamation notice. Shoaib Akhtar tweeted about the same as well stating that he is ready to fight the case. However, on November 13, Akhtar accepted Nauman’s apology taking higher moral ground.

It was an unpleasant incident on National Television and it had hurt my sentiments thats why it took me a while. Taking a higher moral ground, i am accepting the apology of @DrNaumanNiaz . Lets move on from this.

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 13, 2021