5 Moments from the first T20 match of Cricket All-Stars Series

Legends ExpressLast night, it felt like the flow of the river of time was reversed as we saw our greatest heroes take to the pitch and play the gentlemen’s game once more. The number of people that were in the stadium in a non-cricket-loving place like the United States of America just went on to show the passion the game inflicts in its fans.That, and the insomniac owls that stayed up late to watch the game on TV in the subcontinent, further testified the fact that people will always love the days gone by and will forever will in the glory that it provided during its time.Old, they say, is always gold. And here are the 5 golden moments from yesterday’s game...

#1 Shoaib Akhtar\'s fiery bouncers

The Rawalpindi Express is back on track

Well, some things never change. This was just one of them. Akhtar might have gained some weight and looks far from what you would call a fit man, but the fieriness in his bowling run-up and action hasn’t left him.

His run-up and all-gun-blazing action still sparks a burning sensation within, a feeling where you want to just pick a ball and throw it as fast as you can.

I was once a very good spinner, someone who could turn the ball gigantically on any given surface. Some people claimed that my spinning ability could make me a Bangladesh player, and even I thought that I could make it as a spin bowler.

Then Akhtar came and ruined everything. Spin bowling seemed like a sign of ‘weak’ to me. I wanted to run 40-50 yards and throw the ball as fast as I could and rip the body of the batsmen by bruising them with bouncers.

I failed terribly, obviously, and lost my spinning ability in the process too.

But Akhtar still remains that guy who can inspire many to become a fast bowler. Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara and Mathew Hayden had no answers to his blazing bouncers and looked like old men (which they are) playing a young and energetic pacer (which Akhtar isn’t, not anymore).