Pakistan playing 11 from Shoaib Akhtar's last international match

Shoaib Akhtar, one of the most talked-about Pakistani fast bowlers, marks his 49th birthday today. He was born on August 13, 1975, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Akhtar found cricket to be his calling pretty early in his life and found a lot of encouragement from his father as he started honing his skills in local tournaments from a young age.

He had a rollicking career - full of ups and downs, controversies and achievements. Akhtar played in 46 Tests, 163 ODIs, and 15 T20Is, and his international career came to an end with a World Cup match against New Zealand back in 2011. He could not, unfortunately, get any game after this assault and eventually walked away from the game.

Here we take a look at where his other teammates are from his last International game.

#Top Order - Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, and Kamran Akmal

Mohammad Hafeez had a decent Pakistan career and was one of their key batters across all three formats. He was even captain of the side in all three formats and played his final international game in 2021 in a T20I match against Sri Lanka. He has, since, gone on to become a television analyst and briefly served as Pakistan Cricket director at the end of last year.

Another batter who showed a lot of promise but could not go on to have a successful career - Ahmed Shehzad. He made a lot of headlines during the recent T20 World Cup when lashed out at Babar Azam for his cricketing acumen as well as batting methods. He is now a TV analyst but has not retired from first-class cricket.

Between 2013 and 2017, Shehzad played in 13 Tests, scoring a total of 982 runs at an average of 40.9, with a highest score of 176. In One Day Internationals (ODIs) from 2009 to 2017, Shehzad played 81 matches, accumulating 2,605 runs with a top score of 124.

In T20 Internationals from 2009 to 2019, he took part in 59 matches, scoring 1,471 runs with a highest score of 111* and an average of 25.8.

One of Pakistan's better wicketkeeper-batters, Kamran Akmal was very active in the Pakistan Super League till about two years ago. He played his final international game in 2017 and is now part of coaching and broadcasting teams in Pakistan.

In January 2023, he served as the head of a selection committee for domestic age-group teams. In February 2023, he also joined Haroon Rasheed's national selection committee. However, he stepped down in the same month owing to a contractual commitment with a private TV channel for the coverage of the 2023 PSL.

#Middle Order - Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Umar Akmal

Younis Khan is often regarded as Pakistan's greatest Test batter - he holds the unique record of being the only player to score a century in all 11 countries that have hosted Test matches. He was also the captain when Pakistan won the 2009 World Twenty20.

On 23 April 2017, he became the first Pakistan batter and the 13th batter in the world to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He retired from all forms of international cricket at the end of the series against the West Indies in May 2017.

Apart from being one of the leading voices of the game on television, Younis has also been involved in multiple coaching stints with the Pakistan cricket team and Afghanistan cricket team.

Misbah-ul-Haq, a late bloomer in international cricket, is considered to be one of the most successful captains for Pakistan. He has also served as head coach as well as the chief selector for Pakistan.

Misbah officially retired from all formats on May 14, 2017. In October 2020, Misbah resigned from the role of chief selector of the Pakistan national cricket team. On September 6, 2021, he stepped down as Pakistan's head coach. By July 2022, he took on the role of head coach for the Muzaffarabad Tigers.

As of 2024, Misbah-ul-Haq is a member of the PCB Cricket Technical Committee.

Full of talent, never devoid of any controversies - Umar Akmal was one of the brightest talents for Pakistan when he made his debut. However, discipline was never his best ally and he kept getting suspended or reprimanded owing to his on and off-field activities.

He has not officially retired from the game and continues to play in domestic cricket. He has made sporadic appearances on TV, but still harbours hope of making a comeback to the Pakistan cricket team.

#Lower Order - Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, and Umar Gul

Perhaps the most famous Pakistani cricketer after Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi drew audiences to the ground to watch his game. A match-winner on his day, his flamboyant batting gave him the title 'Boom Boom'.

Afridi made his international debut at the age of 16 and then stepped away from the game on May 31, 2018. He played his final PSL season in 2022 when he turned up for the Quetta Gladiators.

He has, since, gone on the serve as the interim chief selector for Pakistan during their series against New Zealand in 2022. In 2023, he launched the Shahid Afridi Store, a menswear fashion brand. He continues to make TV appearances and offers his punditry on cricket.

He also runs the Shahid Afridi Foundation which looks to provide education and healthcare facilities in Pakistan.

Another gifted all-rounder Abdul Razzaq was a prominent presence for Pakistan across all three formats. After stepping away from the game, Razzaq served as a coach for different teams. As the head coach of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he led the side to victory in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, National T20 Cup, and Pakistan Cup during the 2020–21 season. He then went on to become the head coach of Central Punjab for the 2021-22 season.

On September 6, 2021, the PCB made Abdul Razzaq the interim head coach of the Pakistan cricket team alongside Saqlain Mushtaq for the New Zealand tour of Pakistan. However, the series was later cancelled. He has also been a prominent voice on TV channels in Pakistan.

In September 2022, Razzaq was named head coach of the Hyderabad Hunters squad for the inaugural Pakistan Junior League season. In April 2024, Abdul Razzaq was appointed assistant coach for Pakistan's upcoming five-match T20 series against New Zealand.

Abdur Rehman was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler who played all three formats for his country. He has a middling international career and stepped away from the game in October 2018.

Ahead of the Asia Cup, Pakistan appointed former batter and men’s chief selector Mohammad Wasim as the new head coach for the women’s national team. In his coaching staff were also former Pakistan bowlers Junaid Khan and Abdur Rehman who were appointed as assistant coach and spin-bowling coach, respectively.

Umar Gul played for Pakistan across all three formats and when he retired was the second-highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 International cricket, with 74 dismissals. He was also awarded with the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award in 2013.

On October 16, 2020, Gul announced his retirement from all forms of the game. In April 2022, he was appointed bowling consultant for the Afghanistan national cricket team. In May 2022, he was offered a permanent role as the team's bowling coach. He was then appointed interim bowling coach of Pakistan in March 2023 for their series against Afghanistan.