"I have decided to say goodbye," said Akhtar, reading from a statement here at the R. Premadasa Stadium. "This World Cup is my last and the coming matches in the tournament would be the last few of my international career,” he added. "With this announcement it feels like it's my first death." Akhtar, 35, said that the primary reason why he has decided to quit was to give youngsters a chance.

“Mentally, I wanted to continue, perhaps forever. But I must make way for the youngsters to take over. In my entire career of 18 years, I’ve had many defeats but countless victories.” Before Thursday’s training session, Akhtar could be seen making an emotional speech to his teammates in the dressing room. Later, all of them embraced him before they took the field.

“There was sadness,” he said. “Though the team knew already this is going to happen, they still didn’t believe it because they’ve played with me for a long time. They were sad about it. But they were also very happy for my future.

“It seemed a little awkward for them as well because someone from Pakistan was leaving cricket on this note…felt a bit awkward. I’d say they were a bit shocked. Hope I’m setting a good trend for them.” Both his critics and supporters agree that Akhtar, who took 178 Test and 247 One-day International wickets, could have achieved a lot more in his international career.

But Akhtar said that for more than 13 years, he’s been living a dream. “I can’t say I have any regrets,” he said. It’s been an excellent run. Playing for Pakistan was a dream come true for me.” Akhtar said that he had decided about retiring almost two years back after undergoing a knee surgery. “I’ve decided this moment about two years back when I was going through my knee surgery for the fourth time. I made that decision on the bed that I will play this World Cup and play the part as much as possible for the Pakistan team.” Apart from the World Cup, another motivation for Akhtar came when three of Pakistan’s leading cricketers were caught red-handed in a spot fixing scandal in England last summer.

"When the news broke out.... I felt that I should be able to help Pakistan, should be able to concentrate on my fitness, get back in the side," Akhtar said.

Akhtar, who bowled the fastest delivery (100.2 mph) in the history of cricket during the 2003 World Cup in Cape Town, still savors the day when he scalped Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries in front of more than 100,000 fans at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 1999.

“Getting Sachin (Tendulkar) out first ball..getting Rahul (Dravid) out. Playing with Waqar (Younis) and Wasim (Akram) was a dream. Serving the greatest nation on the planet. Playing for my country, what else could I have asked for?” Akhtar, who made his Test debut in 1997 against West Indies in his hometown Rawalpindi, remembered how he slept in the Pakistan team kit for three days.

“The best moment for me was getting my first Test kit. I had a huge star on my chest. I slept in that kit and couldn’t believe I’m going to wake up in that. I didn’t take it off for three days.” He loved hurling his rocket-fast deliveries at tough guys like Australia’s Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting.

“I loved bowling against Gilly. Loved to hate him but he was very tough. Ponting was another great you can imagine. Then my favorite was (Brian) Lara. I only bowled three balls to him, my favorite three balls. Felt sad when I hit him on the neck and he had to leave the ground.” He rejected the impression that his decision to retire was forced on him by the team management. “It was my personal decision. I discussed it with Aaqib (Javed), Intikhab (Alam) and (Shahid Afridi) in New Zealand and we all agreed on it.” Akhtar still wants to play a key role in the rest of Pakistan’s World Cup decision but the veteran pacer is well aware of the fact that he is not an automatic choice for the playing eleven.

“It’s up to the management. I’m working hard, training hard. I had a great session today and a.m. focusing on the Australia game.

“I’m going to double my effort from now. Whatever I can do for my Pakistan, I’ll go out there and do it.

“Every ounce of blood left in my body I’ll serve my country better.” For the best part of his career, Akhtar was the enfant terrible of Pakistan cricket. But he wants to be remembered as the man who always gave his very best for Pakistan “I definitely want to be remembered as the guy who was very patriotic to his country and always been very honest. I always picked the right path and promised myself, my family and country that I won’t ever pick the wrong path. I always parted way with controversies such as match fixing.”