With no cricketing events happening around the world due to COVID-19 crisis, sports platforms are trying innovative techniques to keep the fans engaged.
On Monday (May 11), a leading cricket website asked the fans on Twitter to pick their best contest to watch by giving them the option of 20 cricketers, with half of them being active players and another half from the past era.
One such contest mentioned in the post was between the current No. 1 Test batsman Steve Smith and former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar.
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Interestingly, the 44-year-old Akhtar replied to the post and claimed that he still has the capability to dismiss Smith in a duel.
"Even today, 3 hurting bouncers and i can dismiss @stevesmith49 on the 4th ball. Lol," the Rawalpindi Express wrote.
Unfortunately for the fans, the clash between Smith and Akhtar never happened in international cricket. While the Australian star made his debut in 2010, Shoaib retired from the game a year later.
As far as Steve Smith’s overall batting credentials are concerned – he averages 62.84 in Test cricket with 7227 runs from 73 games, including 26 centuries and 29 fifties. The 30-year-old also has an impressive ODI record, scoring 4162 runs in 125 matches with 9 tons and 25 half-centuries.
Shoaib Akhtar, on the other hand, played 163 ODIs and claimed 247 wickets at an impressive average of 24.97. He was lethal with the red ball too as he picked up 178 wickets at 25.69 from 46 Tests, including 12 five-wicket hauls.
