Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar, has asked fans to keep him in their prayers as he prepares to undergo his final knee surgery in Australia after the procedure was postponed for several months.
In a video message he posted on his official social media page, the Rawalpindi Express said that he has been injecting painkillers since December of last year because the surgery had been postponed by a few months.
The world’s fastest bowler, who represented Pakistan in 163 ODIs, added that he had five similar major surgeries in the past, but they were all “worth it” because playing for Pakistan as a fast bowler meant a lot to him.
While speaking of the pain he bears and the procedure, he said “But this is the pain that I have to endure. It will be an eight-hour partial knee replacing surgery and hopefully, I will come out right and I don’t look forward to it.”
Akhtar, who has had an injury-plagued international career, revealed in an interview with the Australian newspaper, The Age, earlier this year that in addition to nine operations, he has had 62 jabs and 42 injections to his left knee.
“The injuries became bone on bone in my knees. Imagine the pain I went through. Man, it was terrible. I used to fall asleep in an ice bath. There were many times that teammates would wake me up and say, ‘It’s four in the morning, get out and get in bed, ” he had revealed.