Pakistan’s former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has disclosed the training methods that helped him improve his bowling speed and eventually break the 160kmph barrier in the ICC World Cup 2003.
In an chat with Sportskeeda, Rawalpindi Express said he started pulling light vehicles on the roads of Islamabad before moving on to pulling a truck for at least 4-5 miles.
“I use to bowl 157 and 158kmph consistently but somehow I was unable to click 160kph. I started planning to train in order to cross the 160kmph barrier,” said Akhtar.
“Initially, I tied up myself to a tyre and pulled it but the tyre was too light to build my muscles. Later, during nighttime in Islamabad, I tied myself to a small car and pulled it but this also turned out to be light training for my body.”
Shoaib Akhtar said he intended to tie himself to a truck and pull it afterwards. This worked out since he began training and was able to pull a truck for nearly 5 kilometres.
“I doubled my weight training for the sake of building muscles in the gym. This started changing my biomechanics,” he added.
Shoaib Akhtar made the ICC World Cup bowling record with 161.3 kmph against England in 2003.
