‘Thank God he didn’t die’: Shoaib Akhtar recalls his most ferocious yorker

Pakistan's former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was considered one of the deadliest bowlers during his heydays, known for his toe crunching yorkers and bone shattering bouncers. The fast bowler was a nightmare for many great batsmen.

Speaking about the art of bowling bouncers, the fast bowler reminisce about one of his most memorable yorker that he delivered to the West Indies batting legend Brian Lara, as the batsman collapsed to the ground in a painful situation.

“I bowled Lara a bouncer that hit him on his neck, he was badly hurt and fell unconscious before being rushed to the hospital. Thank God he didn’t die, because if the ball had hit him just inches towards the head, his skull bone would have been broken and thank God it didn’t happen,” said Akhtar in his video message.

The incident occurred at the second semifinal of ICC Champions Trophy 2004. Despite Lara getting hurt, West Indies still managed to beat Pakistan quite convincingly at the end by seven wickets.

Akhtar was quite frequent with bowling yorkers, which at times were just too much for the batsman, just ask Indian former captain Sourav Ganguly, who got his ribs broken twice.