‘I was offered a $1 Million, two S-Class Mercedes and an apartment in Fulham to fix match’ – Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar also had his fair share of encounters with bookmakers.

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar raised a number of eye-brows with his recent revelation about match-fixing in Pakistan cricket. While the entire world knows the relation between match-fixing and Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar lifted the lid on just how prevalent it was within the team. The legendary pacer sensationally claimed that he ‘was surrounded by match-fixers’ in the team.

Pakistan cricket was rocked by the match-fixing scandal in 2010 when three of its most prominent names – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – were found guilty. The ICC came down hard on the trio and slapped lengthy ban on them. Since then, only Amir has managed to make a successful return to international cricket.

“I was always of the belief that I can never cheat Pakistan, no match-fixing but I was surrounded by match-fixers. I was playing against 21 people (sic) — 11 theirs and 10 ours. Who knows who was the match-fixer,” Akhtar said during a talk show ‘Rewind With Samina Peerzada’.

“There was so much match-fixing. Asif told me which all matches they had fixed and how they did it,” he added.

Shoaib Akhtar’s encounter with a bookie

Shoaib Akhtar also had his fair share of encounters with bookmakers. The ex-cricketer recently revealed how he came across a bookie who tried to persuade him by offering him a car and other riches but he turned them down. Shoaib Akhtar, in fact, insisted that he not only turned down the offer but also gave the bookie a beating.

“I was offered a million Dollars, 2 S-Class Mercedes and an apartment in Fulham to fix a match – I closed the door and gave the guy who made the offer a beating,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by Pakistani journalist Saj Sadiq in his tweet.

Shoaib Akhtar "I was offered a million Dollars, 2 S-Class Mercedes and an apartment in Fulham to fix a match – I closed the door and gave the guy who made the offer a beating" #Cricket — Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) November 2, 2019

Well, Akhtar did manage to stay away from corruption during his international career. He is one of the fastest bowlers the game has ever seen. Such was his pace that even the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara had to remain on their toes throughout. Akhtar, who had clocked at 161.3 km per hour against England in 2003, still holds the record for the fastest delivery in cricket. He bowed out of the game with 178 wickets in Test cricket, 247 ODI wickets and 19 in T20Is.

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