'Never a dull moment when he's around' - Aakash Chopra wishes Shoaib Akhtar on his 45th birthday

Former Pakistan speedster and one of the fastest bowlers ever, Shoaib Akhtar has turned 45 today, and fans are pouring wishes in their own special way. He is fondly remembered for delivering the ‘fastest recorded ball’ ever when he surpassed the 100 mph mark during the World Cup match against England in 2002 and left everyone in awe of him.  His consistent speed remained a massive headache for batsmen for all the while he was in action.

Having said all that, the Rawalpindi  Express shares a great camaraderie with Indian players and he has been quite vocal talking about the same. He shares a close bond with the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh as he mentioned few special moments with them, and not to forget, his relation with former India cricketer and now commentator Aakash Chopra has always been special to witness.

So, on the occasion of the Shoaib Akhtar’s 45th birthday, Chopra took to Twitter posting a picture of them enjoying working together and wished his dear friend. “Fierce foe on the field. A dear friend off it. Never a dull moment when he’s around. Wish you a very happy birthday @shoaib100mph,” he tweeted.

Here’s his tweet:

Fierce foe on the field. A dear friend off it. Never a dull moment when he’s around. Wish you a very happy birthday, @shoaib100mph 😇🙌 pic.twitter.com/5GPlokBF2R

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 13, 2020

Shoaib Akhtar and Aakash Chopra have worked together in IPL

Shoaib Akhtar and Aakash Chopra have great experience of working together in the IPL and the duo share a special bond while being in the commentary box together. While it is always a treat to hear the latter due to his unique style, the speedster is no less in gripping the audience with his words. He represents facts and figures in a different manner, and his Hindustani accent on the same is a cherry on cake.

The duo have often been seen sharing light moments with each other which does involve some leg pulling too. Shoaib Akhtar also showed his discontentment openly on social media when his name was chalked out of the roster list for IPL 2019. However, Chopra had sympathised with him then too.

Gracing 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is with his class skills, the birthday boy picked 438 international wickets to his credit with an average of 25.02. His lightening fast deliveries injured the batsmen sometimes too. When he used to mark his long run-up taking advantage of his height and physique aiming to dismantle stumps, even the best of batsmen remained in terror of his bowling.