Shoaib Akhtar wanted to badly hit' Matthew Hayden during his playing days

Rawalpindi: The gentleman’s game has witnessed many bitter rivalries between individuals in the past and still continues to do so. Former Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar who was one of the ferocious personalities in the sport, on Tuesday revealed he wanted to hit Matthew Hayden ‘badly’ back during his playing days.

The Rawalpindi Express shared a meme of himself on his Twitter handle on Monday, that claimed 19 batsmen were casualties of Akhtar’s fierce bowling, the most by any bowler in history.

"I never enjoyed it but apart from one," Shoaib added at the end of his tweet, calling on his followers to guess who the batsman was.

The Pakistani speedster later revealed it was Australia’s swash-buckling opener Matthew Hayden, who he wanted to hit badly. He also stated that the duo has buried their past rivalry and are best mates now. 

Akhtar wrote, “It was Matthew Hayden I wanted to hit badly during my playing days and I did that many times during Test and practice games. But now we are best mates & I think he's one of the most generous and kind human being I ever met”. 

The enmity between the duo dates back to 1999-2000 when Hayden played for Queensland on Pakistan’s tour of Australia. The southpaw suffered severe blows to the upper body and the helmet after he tried to sledge Akhtar.

The pair also clashed later on, when Hayden scored a century in Sharjah during 2002 and also during Pakistan’s tour of Australia during 2004-2005.