Two bowlers from either sides of the border and who spearhead the respective bowling attack, Zaheer Khan and Shoaib Akhtar respectively, seem to have developed this uncanny ability and a rather peculiar trend of missing internationals matches with great deal of regularity due to various injuries.
As revealed in the adjacent exclusive table, the former remains absent in every two games after appearing in five internationals while the latter is missing one game after playing one match, the details of which are as follows:
Zaheer Khan (India):
| Category |
Matches played |
Matches missed |
% of matches missed |
| Test Cricket (2000-01 to 2003-04) |
29 |
10 |
34.48 |
| ODI Cricket (2000-01 to 2003-04) |
82 |
34 |
41.46 |
| Total |
111 |
44 |
39.64 |
Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan ):
| Category |
Matches played |
Matches missed |
% of matches missed |
| Test Cricket (1997-98 to 2003-04) |
32 |
29 |
90.63 |
| ODI Cricket (1997-98 to 2003-04) |
103 |
90 |
87.38 |
| Total |
135 |
119 |
88.15 |
Note : Zaheer Khan's tenure is of three years and 194 days while that of Shoaib Akhtar's is of six years and 139 days.