End of the Shoaib line
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The image of Shoaib Akhtar that should
have endured was fashioned on a warm Manchester afternoon in 1999.
He strode back to his mark, swept back his mane of dark hair and
roared in, arms flailing, back arched.
The ball was released at 148km/h, swung late, pitched later and
uprooted Stephen Fleming's off stump. Pakistan were on their way to
the World Cup final, propelled by the new 23-year-old fast bowler,
hailed already as the Rawalpindi Express. |
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Akhtar had the world at his feet; a raw natural talent, movie star
looks, a vivid demeanour and thus the capacity to thrill audiences
anywhere. That ball to Fleming embodied it all.
In the years that followed, sadly, the image was tarnished. It became
grubby and was replaced, or at least accompanied, by something
altogether less alluring.
Wherever Akhtar went, whatever he did, trouble was nearby. He was
forgiven much, indeed almost everything for what he could bring on to a
cricket field.
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Nothing in the game - not a Brian Lara batting or a Shane
Warne bowling - can quite match watching a genuine speed
merchant in full flow and Akhtar's flow was fuller and faster
than anybody's.
But finally, inevitably, his international career reached a
sad, seemingly inevitable conclusion when Akhtar was banned
for five years by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week.
Pending an appeal, this seems to be it for him as an
international. |
If the appeal fails, he will be 37 by the time
he is able to resume his career with Pakistan,
not an age notable for the pomp of fast bowlers.
The PCB seem at last to have had enough. "The
board has lost confidence in Shoaib Akhtar and
therefore felt that his presence in the field
was damaging to the Pakistan team, for Pakistan
players and for the image of Pakistan cricket,"
said the PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf in
announcing the suspension.
"The committee has recommended a five-year ban.
He will be ineligible to play in Pakistan or for
Pakistan anywhere in the world. It is a sad day
for me and for Shoaib Akhtar. He is such a
talented player."
A talented player with a mercurial personality -
which may be demonstrated later this month. The
punishment did not extend to Shoaib playing for
other teams outside Pakistan and he was been
signed for US$425,000 (NZ$540,000) to represent
Kolkata in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
However, the IPL have now ruled that Akhtar can
not play for them until his ban is done.
The charge sheet is long, yet what finally
brought him down was a relatively trifling
misdemeanour. Akhtar berated the PCB in print
for offering him a retainer instead of a central
contract and was charged with publicly
criticising them.
The PCB are now taking him to court, alleging
defamation.
In the past nine years, in no particular order,
he has been accused (and cleared) of chucking,
convicted of taking a performance-enhancing drug
and hitting fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif
with a cricket bat, banned for ball tampering,
and using obscene and offensive language. He
also had a logo on his bat that was adjudged too
large.
The chucking charge was thrown out when his arm
was found to be hyperextended, and though to the
naked eye it still looked decidedly impure, you
were always caught up in the majesty of the
moment.
For the drugs offence he was sent home from the
2006 Champions Trophy though the ban was later
risibly lifted. For striking he was dismissed
from the World Twenty20 last year, fined 3.4
million rupees (NZ$69,000) and banned for 13
matches. He was on a cricketing parole of sorts
when he opened his mouth last month.
At various times in between, he has been
lacklustre and at odds with captains and
coaches. All could see his worth, but he sent
them into despair. When Bob Woolmer was
Pakistan's coach he reckoned he could deal with
Akhtar but the undesirable hangers-on -
"gangsters" Woolmer called them - proved too
much.
He spent an inordinate time trying to become the
first fast bowler to reach 100m/h (160km/h),
which he achieved at Cape Town in the 2003 World
Cup. But did it really matter?
There should and could have been considerably
more than 46 test matches and 138 one-day
internationals. A record of 178 wickets at 25.70
in the former and 219 at 23.20 with a strike
rate under 30 in the latter hardly constitute
failure.
Perhaps his finest series was against England in
late 2005. He took 17 wickets in three matches,
including five in the last innings of the
rubber, and was utterly compelling and incisive
throughout.
It was characteristic of Akhtar that upon his
suspension he could see no wrong in anything he
had done.
"Ask the captain, ask coach Geoff Lawson and
they would vouch for me. I had played with high
fever on the India tour last year which proved
my commitment," he said. "I bowl fast so am
prone to injuries but I have given my heart,
body and soul to this team. I know some vested
interest did not want me to be part of the team
but I will be back."
He had hoped that an apology for his latest
outburst against the board would suffice. But he
was wrong.
Lawson may still want him back in the side.
There was plenty of evidence last year that he
still had it, but if he was not a divisive
influence around the team he was never a
unifying one either.
Teams can put up with a lot from a man who takes
five wickets and puts the fear of Allah into the
opposing team but Akhtar never got it.
He appeared to assume that excesses could merely
be followed by apologies and then the show could
go on. Now the show might have stopped for good.
--Independent
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