Reported for throwing, an overturned drugs ban, ball-tampering, dressing-room spats - the list goes on. But we’re here, with our rose-tinted glasses on, to talk about the pace. The good stuff. Or so I think. Instead, Shoaib Akhtar wants me to know just how much it hurt. He wants me to know the pain of being the fastest bowler in the world. “When I see a cricket ground, my knee aches, my body starts to hurt because of the 25 years of wear and tear that has taken its toll on me,” he replies when asked if he misses playing. “I could’ve gone on to play for another three or four years, but I would have been in a wheelchair if I’d continued. For 14 years of my [international] career, there was one year where I was pain free , where I could fly during my run-up. That was the 1999 World Cup. After that there was pain, pain, pain.”
And what of the pace rivalry with Brett Lee at the start of the century? When that great Australian side’s most rapid weapon was pitted against the Rawalpindi Express in a race to break the 100mph barrier.