West Indies cricketer Daren Sammy was shaken by the bouncer of former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar to Caribbean great Brian Lara in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy. He had made his debut in that tournament and seeing Lara down by a bouncer from the dressing room had put him in doubt over his decision to play cricket.

Akhtar's deadly bouncer bowled to Lara at the Rose Bowl in Southampton had left the latter unconscious. Sammy recalled the incident while interacting with a Pakistani news outlet.

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“When I made my debut for the West Indies in the Champions Trophy, I remember Pakistan playing West Indies at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire and they were opening with Mohammad Sami, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar. I saw Shoaib Akhtar bowling a bouncer to Brian Lara and hit him in the head. Brian Lara fell back probably almost unconscious. I was sitting and I was 19 years old next to Dwayne Bravo. I literally questioned whether I wanted to play cricket again. Shoaib Akhtar did that to me.”

“I met him four days ago in Islamabad and I gave him that story. He said ‘Brian clipped him for four on the first ball’ and I guess that was his response. It was a joy to watch the Rawalpindi Express coming down with his hair flying. Shoaib Akhtar with his pace. In the current day, even though I am not playing I would pad up easily against any bowler and try to hit them out of the park,” he added.

Lara, who was leading West Indies, was taken off after the blow. He was batting on 31 runs off 30 balls with the help of five boundaries. Despite the incident, West Indies had won the match by seven wickets with 21.5 overs to spare.