Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee, Michael Clarke picks the fastest bowler he faced

Clarke had to face some of the quickest bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee and Shaun Tait.

Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke who led the Australian side to the 2015 World Cup title has faced a lot of quick bowlers in his career of 11 years. Some of the bowlers like Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Shoaib Akhtar that Clarke faced used to bowl at 150 kmph regularly.

While talking on the Uncensored podcast, the 40-year-old revealed the fastest bowler he faced.

“Shoaib Akhtar was the fastest I have faced. He could bowl 160. Different type of bowler who could bowl quick for three overs. Flintoff was quick for 12 overs. Lee was quick. Shoaib was quicker. Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie were fast. But Shoaib Akhtar was the fastest,” Clarke said.

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The Australian picked Sachin Tendulkar as the best batsman he has ever seen. He then went on to praise the legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne for dealing with the mental pressure and how he left out everything off the field.

“He would always leave the things happening off the field, off the field. Generally, Warnie would have a smoke as he was walking onto the ground. He will try to hide it somewhere. And when he finished his smoke and put it out, he knew that it was game time,” the right-hand batsman said.

“He crossed that line and whatever he had going off the field. I think that was his greatest strength, how mentally strong he was to still be able to perform when he had so much media pressure off the field with his life. He had it all his career,” he added.

(With Hindustan Times inputs)