'Management asked me to rest, but I did bungee jumping' - Shoaib Akhtar recalls an incident from his playing days

Shoaib Akhtar shared a hilarious anecdote from his playing days, revealing how he went on to do bungee jumping when the management told him to instead rest up his body. 

The former Pakistan speedster said the story is from the 2003-04 tour of New Zealand, where he went against the advice of the coaches and the medical staff. 

Carrying a groin injury into the trip, the 'Rawalpindi Express' said he went for bumpee jumping after skipping the eyes of the rest of the players, including the then Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. 

When Shoaib Akhtar looked past a groin injury to do bungee jumping 

"I remember during the 2004 tour of New Zealand, the management asked me to rest as I was injured. I was clearly instructed not to do anything that would hurt my chances of playing matches during the tour," Shoaib Akhtar told Sportskeeda. 

"As soon as everyone left for the official dinner, I booked a helicopter and headed out for bungee jumping, ignoring the fact that I had been hit on the groin by a ball. As expected, I was in pain after the exercise!" 

In another amusing fact from his playing days, Akhtar revealed he used to feed sharks in the water whenever he was on breaks from bowling duties. That habit, the ex speedster said, has stuck with him so much so that his friends tease him about it. 

"In fact, during the birthdays, friends tell me: 'we will take you for feeding sharks as your birthday gift'. So I was feeding great white sharks in the deep sea ocean. My legs were shivering, as the sharks were 15-20 feet long."

"In Queensland, I went white-water rafting alone. It was risky but I survived the experience. When the management came to know about my activities, I was slapped with a heavy fine," he said. 

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Shoaib Akhtar said the idea to indulge in these activities during the breaks was to "rejuvenate" himself physically and mentally amidst a busy schedule delivering over 145 clicks consistently against top-level batters. 

The cricketer claims the Pakistan think-tank, however, wasn't all too chuffed about his antics and often played him every game of a series when he could've done with rest and undergo fun off-field activities.

"During my playing days, a break used to always rejuvenate me. But the team management did not understand me. Even at the first-class level, the story was the same," said the 46-year-old, who played 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is for Pakistan. 

"During the match or at practice, I always used to bowl from my full run-up. I have approximately covered thrice the distance of earth’s circumference only by running. The management should have been more careful and played me in only three of the five ODIs during a series."