Ambrose was 'shocked' after seeing Akhtar bowl for the first time

West Indies’ legendary former pacer Curtly Ambrose, on The Curtly & Karishma Show on YouTube, revealed that his side was shocked when they encountered Pakistan’s legendary former speedster Shoaib Akhtar for the first time when they toured the country in 1997. 

The 57-year-old claimed that Akhtar made legendary cricketers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis look like medium pacers in comparison.

“In 1997, when we toured Pakistan, we were so accustomed to Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, we had never seen Shoaib Akhtar before. So we thought Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are great players, if we could just see them off with the new ball then we should be ok. Then Shoaib Akhtar came on at first change,” Ambrose said.

“We thought, what the hell is going on here? He made Wasim and Waqar look like they were bowling medium pace. We were really shocked, he was that quick. Those are the sort of challenges in Pakistan and they have produced some wonderful cricketers,” he added.

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Ambrose believed that playing Pakistan in their own country was never easy because of the quality of cricketers they produced.

“Playing Pakistan back in my day wasn't easy. Pakistan produced some fantastic cricketers. Imran Khan, who is now the prime minister, was captain then and he was a wonderful cricketer. They had Javed Minded, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. They just had a fantastic side. It was very tough to beat Pakistan in Pakistan,” he said.