Controversially Yours’ sends bouncers all over


‘Controversially Yours’ sends bouncers all over 
Pakistan’s most controversial cricketer Shoaib Akhtar invited a little more drama on the eve of his book launch, tearing into Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid while also taking shots at former national captain Wasim Akram and even the country’s former president Pervez Musharraf and admitting ball tempering.
In the book titled “Controversially Yours” Shoaib claimed that his career was hampered by legendary Pakistani pacer Wasim Akram. “Wasim Akram threatened to walk out with half the team if I was included in the team. General Tauqir Zia (the then PCB chief) backed Shoaib against Wasim,” he wrote of fissures previously unheard of.
He says Wasim succeeded in keeping him out of the first Test match but it was the board that insisted that new blood must be given a chance; they wanted Wasim to try me out in particular. The result was that I became the discordant note within the team, the bone of contention between Wasim and the selectors
The 36-year-old Shoaib, who had scalped 178 wickets in 46 Test and 247 I wickets in 163 ODIs, said that Tendulkar and Dravid who have together conjured over 56,000 international runs (over 33,000 by Tendulkar and over 23,000 by Dravid) are not "match winners". “I think players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid weren’t exactly match-winners to start with, nor did they know the art of finishing the game.”
"....Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and the likes of them are great batsmen who dominated with the bat and were truly match-winners. Initially, when I bowled against Sachin, I found these qualities missing. He might have had more runs and records, he lacked the ability to finish the game," he said in the book.
Shoaib, who announced his retirement during the World Cup this year, also cited an example where he felt that Sachin was mighty scared to face him. "I bowled (Sachin) a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn't even touch. He walked away! That was the first time, I saw him walk away from me-- that, too, on the slow track at Faisalabad. It got my hunting instincts up and in the next match I hit him on the head and he couldn't score after that", Shoaib wrote.
Shoaib who played for Shah Rukh Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders during IPL has accused the Bollywood superstar and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of "cheating." "Shahrukh and I talked about my not being happy with the money settled on me. Shahrukh and Modi got me to agree. I should have never listened to Modi and Shahrukh," he said in the book.
Shoaib also spoke at length about politics in Pakistan Cricket Board. He didn't shy away from taking a dig at Shoaib Malik. He didn't stop short of calling Malik a "stooge of PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf" and that's why he was made the captain. “Shoaib Malik doesn’t deserve to be captain and was made captain because he was a stooge of the PCB Chief Naseem Ashraf,” states Shoaib.
But Shoaib is not one to shy away from such a situation and said in an interview to Times of India, “What I’ve written is my experience, put as honestly for others to know. This is the truth – for the world, it may be a big controversy.”
He has also dug deep into the working of the Pakistan cricket- the administration, his early career, former and current players and the class discrimination in the setup. Shoaib, who retired after the 2011 World Cup, also shockingly admitted to ball tampering and feels it should be legalised. “Everyone tampers with the ball. I did so too. Tampering should be legalised.”
He also accused his other his contemporaries in the team of ball-tampering and revealed shocking stories. "Almost all Pakistani fast bowlers have tampered with the ball. I may be the first one to openly admit to it but everybody is doing it," he said. "To be honest, every team in the world tampers with the ball. We probably started it but today koi team. No team is innocent and virtually every fast bowler does it. That is the only way to survive because the wickets are so slow.”
Akhtar, who was twice suspended by ICC for ball tampering during his career, defends the speed merchants for indulging in this illegal cricketing activity. In his tell-all book, Akhtar cited examples of how he had indulged in doctoring the ball during his playing career.
"I have tampered with the ball on many occasions. Have been warned several times and even being caught twice - Dambulla was one such instance. I was suspended for a match and fined 75 per cent of the match fees," he said in the book.
But Akhtar also confessed that it had slowly become a habit. "I can't seem to help it. I have got to do something with the ball. I know this will make a big noise but I won't lie about it."
Not only about his own antics but Akhtar also revealed the secret of an unnamed Pakistan cricketer who actually changed a ball in order to get more reverse swing going. "I won't name him but one Pakistani cricketer actually switched the ball in the umpires' pocket with one that reversed like crazy. Umpires usually keep the ball in their coat pockets and then hang their coat up for lunch. That was when the transfer occurred. After this incident, they now leave their coats in a locked room."

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