"That was the last time I walked out to Shoaib Akhtar" - Former India batter recalls scary beamer threat from Pakistani speedster

Former Team India batter Robin Uthappa recently shared details of his first on-field encounter against Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar. He recalled facing the fast bowler for the first time during Men in Blue's home series against Pakistan in 2007.

Uthappa stated that in the opening match at Guwahati, he walked down the track to Akhtar. He managed to get an outside edge that flew to the boundary rope for a four.

Speaking about facing the fiery bowler for the first time, Uthappa said in a video posted on his Instagram account:

"I have a fine memory with Shoaib bhai. I remember the first time I was playing against him, we were playing in Guwahati in diminishing light, and he was bowling quick. It was the first time I was facing him, and in that process, we were chasing down a score, Irfan and I were batting against him, and he was bowling very rapid. I remember hitting him for a four and he gave me a proper stare. We needed four of five runs to win and I was like okay, I got to walk out to him. Got the outside edge, again rapid, very, very rapid, and took the outside edge and went for a four."

The 39-year-old disclosed that Akhtar was miffed with him walking down the track and threatened to bowl a beamer if he repeated it. Sharing details of the threat, Uthappa added:

"The team would hang out together so he caught me, pulled me aside, and said, 'See, you walked out to me in this game. You have to understand that I don't like it.' And he said to me, 'If you ever do that to me again, I cannot promise you that you will not get a beamer.'"

Uthappa mentioned that he took Akhtar's words very seriously and never walked down to him for his safety. He, however, stated that the ex-Pakistani bowler is a very entertaining personality and he enjoyed his interviews in the recently released Netflix documentary about India-Pakistan cricketing rivalry.

"For my own safety, that was the last time I walked out to Shoaib Akhtar. But he is an entertaining personality and I love the way he speaks and very entertaining. You can tell he is all heart. I just watched this Netflix series, the India-Pakistan one, a few days ago and I was watching Shoaib Akhtar in that and watching his interviews and I really enjoyed that series from Netflix," Uthappa concluded.

It is worth mentioning that Robin Uthappa wasn't the only Indian batter who upset Shoaib Akhtar by walking out of his crease. Mohammad Kaif had done something similar in 2004 and even repeated it when the two came face-to-face in the Legends League Cricket in 2022.

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"I just feel like punching him" - Shoaib Akhtar on Mohammad Kaif's habit of giving him a charge

After Mohammad Kaif gave Shoaib Akhtar a charge during a Legends League Cricket match in 2022, the latter joked that he felt like punching the former India cricket.

Akhtar pointed out that he has asked Kaif not to do so on several occasions but to no avail. The Pakistani pace bowling icon was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times after the match:

"Mohammad Kaif was walking towards me again. I just feel like punching him. Because I have told him many times in the past ‘do not walk at me’, but he did that again."

Shoaib Akhtar retired from international cricket following the 2011 ODI World Cup. He finished his career with 444 wickets across formats. The Rawalpindi Express continues to hold the record for bowling the fastest ball in international cricket at 161.3 kph.