Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar is one of the greatest bowlers to come out of the subcontinent. He was certainly one of the fastest bowlers to have ever played the game.

The Rawalpindi Express and his encounters with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid have given fans some fiery contests to cherish. 

He retired from the game back in 2011. However, he still follows the game closely and never shies away from sharing his opinions with his legion of fans, be it through his Youtube channel or as an expert through different mediums.

In a recent chat with Harbhajan Singh on Sportskeeda Live, Akhtar was engaged in a rapid fire segment, where both of them tried to test each other's knowledge of the first season of the IPL.

When asked who took the first-ever hat-trick in the IPL, Bhajji couldn't get the right name. Akhtar later told him that it was L Balaji who took the first-ever hattrick in the first edition of the IPL when he dismissed Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh in a match against the erstwhile KXIP.

Talking about Balaji, Akhtar referred to him as his "most fearsome rival". "Sachin was not comfortable. The entire Indian team couldn't play me, but this one guy, Balaji, kept hitting me for sixes, batting down the order, " said Akhtar on Sportskeeda Live.

The first edition of the IPL saw Bhajji playing an integral role for the Mumbai Indians while Akhtar was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders at the auction.