Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has recalled facing Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar in the 2005 Test series against Pakistan.

In a recent interview, Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen said he had an unforgettable tour and Shoaib’s bowling drove him crazy. Successfully bouncing back in the home Test series, Shoaib Akhtar emerged as the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts.

Kevin Pietersen said it was his first-ever tour to Pakistan for playing Test series in 2005. He said that  he was simply frightened by the pace at which Shoaib Akhtar bowled.  In addition to this Kevin added that it was something that he had never witnessed in his international career, “My first proper Test tour abroad was Pakistan. It was straight off the 2005 Ashes. That tour was frightening. The speed at which Shoaib Akhtar bowled in that series, my goodness!” Kevin Pietersen said.

Earlier England in 2005 toured Pakistan for playing the three-match Test series. Although the visitors came with a formidable batting line-up. But, that was blown away by Rawalpindi Express Akhtar, who took 17 wickets in his three appearances. Furthermore The England cricket team toured Pakistan from October to December.

Although England were looking to maintain the form that had taken them to second place in the ICC Test Championship, and to victory in the 2005 Ashes series at home to Australia. However they suffered a sharp reversal of fortune, losing the test series 2-0 to Pakistan.

Tests Teams in 2005 Match:

England

Michael Vaughan; James Anderson; Ian Bell ; Paul Collingwood; Andrew Flintoff ; Ashley Giles; Steve Harmison; Matthew Hoggard;  Geraint Jones; Alex Loudon; Kevin Pietersen; Liam Plunkett; Matt Prior; Andrew Strauss; Marcus Trescothick; Shaun Udal.

Pakistan

Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain); Salman Butt; Shoaib Malik; Younis Khan; Mohammad Yousuf; Hasan Raza; Kamran Akmal; Danish Kaneria; Mohammad Sami; Naved-ul-Hasan; Shabbir Ahmed; Shoaib Akhtar; Mushtaq Ahmed; Asim Kamal; Shahid Afridi; Arshad Khan, Mohammad Asif.