Shoaib Akhtar first spoke about his heated exchange of words with Matthew Hayden. Hayden was one of the most important Australian batsmen at that point and Akhtar knew he had to dominate him.
Shoaib Akhtar also narrated his verbal duel with Hayden’s opening partner Justin Langer. During one of the matches in the 2004 series, the Aussie opener played a cover drive that hurt Akhtar’s teammate Shahid Afridi. Langer also had a few words to say to the Pakistani speedster which made him really angry.
Shoaib Akhtar was struggling with a hamstring injury, but he wanted to prove a point to Langer and he did so by hitting him in the hand. Speaking about his battle with the Australian opener, Akhtar said:
Don’t pick a fight with Shoaib Akhtar or else he will wake up: Gilchrist to Langer
Shoaib Akhtar also stated what Adam Gilchrist had to say to Langer during one of the matches in the series. Gilchrist told Langer not to have a verbal duel with Akhtar as it brings the best out of him.
When Akhtar asked Gilchrist why he didn’t attack the speedster, the former Aussie wicket-keeper replied by saying he didn’t want to get in a tangle.
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