Shoaib Akhtar smirked at me on debut and said he was going to kill me, recalls Liam Plunkett
English pacer Liam Plunkett, who made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2005, recalled an interesting incident when his former Durham teammate Shoaib Akhtar promised to ‘kill him’ when he came out to bat. Plunkett revealed that he was scared for his life to face a quick, fired-up Akhtar.
Despite now known as a white-ball specialist, Liam Plunkett was quite the all-format bowler during his younger days and his progress was so rapid that the pacer made his Test debut for England at just the age of 20. Plunkett made his debut in whites in England’s tour of Pakistan in 2005, a series which the home side won 2-0, and while representing his country at such a young age was a special moment, a young Plunkett still had to encounter the prospect of facing a rampant Shoaib Akhtar.
The third Test of the series, which was Plunkett’s debut, was won by Pakistan by an innings and 100 runs, but the pacer recalled how he was mortified at the thought of potentially facing Akhtar. Plunkett, who had been teammates with Akhtar in Durham, revealed that the Rawalpindi Express smirked at him and said, ‘I’m gonna kill you.’
“In county cricket, I was first-change to Shoaib and Harmy. I was at slip for Harmy and leg-slip for Shoaib. I faced Shoaib Akhtar in my first ever Test match. Because I played with Durham before that, I was marking my run-up before the Test and he just smiled and said ‘I’m gonna kill you’ and laughed," Plunkett said on The Broken Trophy podcast, reported Times Now.
“I remember it like it was yesterday because I had my bat, at that time – you think these bats are so thick and stuff – but it was Kashmir willow, it was real thin. And I was sat ready to bat, I was next in, and the TV screen’s right there, so you can see it’s like 96, 97, 96 [miles per hour]. Ashley Giles’ stumps get taken out, and I walk out to a guy who’s bowling 90 miles an hour.”
Akhtar claimed a five-wicket haul in the second innings of the match and recalling the speedster’s spell, Plunkett stated he was astonished by the speed at which the ball travelled to the keeper. Plunkett was then hit on the shoulder by Akhtar in that match, and speaking about that moment, the 35-year-old pacer said that he ‘S*** his pants’.
“I remember the first one, it looked like I played it well. You duck and you turn and you can see it travel to the keeper and the keeper catches it. I got my first medal of honour, he hit me on the shoulder. I pretty much sh** my pants at that point.”
Fittingly, Plunkett was dismissed LBW by Akhtar in the second innings of the Test, which was also the last of the series. Having made his debut in 2005, Plunkett played a total of 13 Tests for England, picking 41 wickets, with his last appearance coming against India at Lord’s in 2014.
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