Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistani fast bowler, who announced his retirement from the International cricket a few months ago even when the World Cup matches were going on, has come out with his autobiography. It appears that Akhter has just talked and it is Anshu Dogra who has made it into an intelligible book.As the title of the book suggests it has something to do indeed with controversy. The book certainly does not aim at quelling any. It may, on the other hand ,give rise to a number of more controversies.
The book can be called a collection of complaints and grievances, some real and some perceived that Akhtar has had against almost every body----the Pakistani Cricket Board members, it's chairmen from time to time, team members - mostly the seniors, the coaches,the Pakistani government, the umpires and even the media. It
appears that Akhtar has been fairly honest in his impressions.That is why almost nobody has been spared.
Coming from the family of a nightwatchman at a petrol station belonging to the Attock oil refinery,. Akhtar was the youngest son of the four surviving sons. A sister younger than Shoaib by eleven years was born later. Shoaib was initially the name of a brother who died before Akhtar was born. But the name Shoaib , which means the one who unites as also the one who separates depending on the context, was so much dear to his mother that the new born Akthar was also given the same name.
Akthar's childhood was spent in poverty like that of many other children in the subcontinent. What made Akthar's situation different were his over weening ambition, his overabundant energy, his complete trust in Allah (so he says)and his mother's sapience and sagacity who denied herself and her family of most of the small and everyday pleasures to ensure that her children got good education.His overabundant energy made Akhtar do things which to others seemed a manifestation of a streak of madness.This streak of madness continues to dog Akthar till the time the book ends.He does not mind citing examples of this through out the book--- running incessantly on roads and forests,mocking the authority even when not warranted, playing practical pranks on fellow team mates, refusing to fall in line when needed and so on. Akhtar feels that his seniors, coaches, PCB members etc. never understood him. They never did anything to guide and protect him and were never sympathetic when he was really injured or in some kind of trouble. Not only that,according to Akhtar if anything went wrong with the team, mostly the blame would go to him.He also feels that the Board has no consideration for players' well-being, paying them a pittance and keeping them under a constant threat of expulsion from the team. The Board also does not protect them from harmful influences and does not do anything to prevent the bookies' access to players. Players from modest economic background are targeted by these bookies as they are considered easy preys and that is why so many Pakistani players find themselves accused of match-fixing. .
Akhtar also touches upon the subject of ball tampering and asserts categorically that all bowlers do this The game of cricket is getting more and more batsmen friendly forcing bowlers to be more and more innovative. The ball tampering is one such ploy that fast bowlers resort to to counter this says Akhtar.
Akhtar has strong opinion about Pakistani cricket captains.While he is all praise for Imran Khan, not only for his having won the World Cup for the country but also for the fact that he nurtured young cricketers who had talent, he i.e. Akhtar is less than enthusiastic about Wasim Akram, who according to him, though a great bowler, cared much less for the team members and who, even when trying most to keep the PCB members happy, eventually fell out of their favour.About Inzmam ul Haq he says that though a good guy, in his captaincy the Pakstani team became obssesed with the rituals such as namaz and roza. He declares himself a confirmed muslim but feels that rituals such as the above when required to be followed even in aeroplanes smack of hypocrisy, especially as the ones insisting on following them continue to indulge in less than honourable deeds.
Akhtar does acknowledge the greatness of some of his contemporaries and predecessors such as Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Rickey Ponting and narrates with relish the episodes where he got the better of them ( not Richards). Dismissal of Dravid and Sachin with consecutive balls at Kolkata finds a mention more than once.At one place he also hints that Sachin had moved away apparently in fear when he had charged at him with an approximately 100 miles per hour ball. He also derives pleasure in recalling how his ball had almost killed Brian Lara. Of the other Shoaib i.e. Shoaib Malik he says that he was a ghulam of the Board.
Of the chairmen of PCB, the only man who can find his name mentioned with any amount of respect is Lt.Gen.Tauqir Zia who apparently helped Akhtar even before he was appointed as the Chairman of PCB and continued to help him till his resignation. Akhtar also speaks how Asif Zardari ,the President of Pakistan ,had to help him when the matter once became political.
Shoaib does not fail to talk about money and girls. After he became a star, he was chased by girls everywhere.Girls in dozens and scores would stand in front of the hotels where the team stayed for hours together in the hope of meeting their beloved stars.Cricketers would also befriend them and make good use of the time and money the girls provided. Promises of undying love would also be made in some cases and there would be tearful departures at the conclusion of the tour.Incidentally, this would be repeated at almost every city hosting the match. Akhtar feels that avenues for earning legitimate money such as match fee, endorsements etc for Pakistani players are rather limited and therefore,players are always on tenterhooks and once they fail to get selected in the team for some time, there future is indeed dark and gloomy. Akhtar notes with regret that an ex-captain of the Pakistani team drives a taxi in London because the PCB failed to look after him in his retirement days as it fails to do for most of the ex-players.
There are more than two dozen photographs capturing momentous moments in the cricketer's life including the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar in Kolkata and the ball which broke the 100 miles per hour barrier.
In the pages of this book, Akhtar comes out to be a wild, untamed and untameable personality that he is already known to be...The book will provide immense pleasure to those who love cricket gossip which many of us surely do. To many Indian readers, it may also provide an experience of schadenfreude, for the PCB appears much worse than our BCCI.. .
The book can be called a collection of complaints and grievances, some real and some perceived that Akhtar has had against almost every body----the Pakistani Cricket Board members, it's chairmen from time to time, team members - mostly the seniors, the coaches,the Pakistani government, the umpires and even the media. It
appears that Akhtar has been fairly honest in his impressions.That is why almost nobody has been spared.
Coming from the family of a nightwatchman at a petrol station belonging to the Attock oil refinery,. Akhtar was the youngest son of the four surviving sons. A sister younger than Shoaib by eleven years was born later. Shoaib was initially the name of a brother who died before Akhtar was born. But the name Shoaib , which means the one who unites as also the one who separates depending on the context, was so much dear to his mother that the new born Akthar was also given the same name.
Akthar's childhood was spent in poverty like that of many other children in the subcontinent. What made Akthar's situation different were his over weening ambition, his overabundant energy, his complete trust in Allah (so he says)and his mother's sapience and sagacity who denied herself and her family of most of the small and everyday pleasures to ensure that her children got good education.His overabundant energy made Akhtar do things which to others seemed a manifestation of a streak of madness.This streak of madness continues to dog Akthar till the time the book ends.He does not mind citing examples of this through out the book--- running incessantly on roads and forests,mocking the authority even when not warranted, playing practical pranks on fellow team mates, refusing to fall in line when needed and so on. Akhtar feels that his seniors, coaches, PCB members etc. never understood him. They never did anything to guide and protect him and were never sympathetic when he was really injured or in some kind of trouble. Not only that,according to Akhtar if anything went wrong with the team, mostly the blame would go to him.He also feels that the Board has no consideration for players' well-being, paying them a pittance and keeping them under a constant threat of expulsion from the team. The Board also does not protect them from harmful influences and does not do anything to prevent the bookies' access to players. Players from modest economic background are targeted by these bookies as they are considered easy preys and that is why so many Pakistani players find themselves accused of match-fixing. .
Akhtar also touches upon the subject of ball tampering and asserts categorically that all bowlers do this The game of cricket is getting more and more batsmen friendly forcing bowlers to be more and more innovative. The ball tampering is one such ploy that fast bowlers resort to to counter this says Akhtar.
Akhtar has strong opinion about Pakistani cricket captains.While he is all praise for Imran Khan, not only for his having won the World Cup for the country but also for the fact that he nurtured young cricketers who had talent, he i.e. Akhtar is less than enthusiastic about Wasim Akram, who according to him, though a great bowler, cared much less for the team members and who, even when trying most to keep the PCB members happy, eventually fell out of their favour.About Inzmam ul Haq he says that though a good guy, in his captaincy the Pakstani team became obssesed with the rituals such as namaz and roza. He declares himself a confirmed muslim but feels that rituals such as the above when required to be followed even in aeroplanes smack of hypocrisy, especially as the ones insisting on following them continue to indulge in less than honourable deeds.
Akhtar does acknowledge the greatness of some of his contemporaries and predecessors such as Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Rickey Ponting and narrates with relish the episodes where he got the better of them ( not Richards). Dismissal of Dravid and Sachin with consecutive balls at Kolkata finds a mention more than once.At one place he also hints that Sachin had moved away apparently in fear when he had charged at him with an approximately 100 miles per hour ball. He also derives pleasure in recalling how his ball had almost killed Brian Lara. Of the other Shoaib i.e. Shoaib Malik he says that he was a ghulam of the Board.
Of the chairmen of PCB, the only man who can find his name mentioned with any amount of respect is Lt.Gen.Tauqir Zia who apparently helped Akhtar even before he was appointed as the Chairman of PCB and continued to help him till his resignation. Akhtar also speaks how Asif Zardari ,the President of Pakistan ,had to help him when the matter once became political.
Shoaib does not fail to talk about money and girls. After he became a star, he was chased by girls everywhere.Girls in dozens and scores would stand in front of the hotels where the team stayed for hours together in the hope of meeting their beloved stars.Cricketers would also befriend them and make good use of the time and money the girls provided. Promises of undying love would also be made in some cases and there would be tearful departures at the conclusion of the tour.Incidentally, this would be repeated at almost every city hosting the match. Akhtar feels that avenues for earning legitimate money such as match fee, endorsements etc for Pakistani players are rather limited and therefore,players are always on tenterhooks and once they fail to get selected in the team for some time, there future is indeed dark and gloomy. Akhtar notes with regret that an ex-captain of the Pakistani team drives a taxi in London because the PCB failed to look after him in his retirement days as it fails to do for most of the ex-players.
There are more than two dozen photographs capturing momentous moments in the cricketer's life including the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar in Kolkata and the ball which broke the 100 miles per hour barrier.
In the pages of this book, Akhtar comes out to be a wild, untamed and untameable personality that he is already known to be...The book will provide immense pleasure to those who love cricket gossip which many of us surely do. To many Indian readers, it may also provide an experience of schadenfreude, for the PCB appears much worse than our BCCI.. .
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