Shoaib Akhtar,s Jokes
Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram tried to ‘finish’ his career in his autobiography released on Friday.
The former Pakistan fast bowler has written in his book that Wasim Akram conspired against him.
“Wasim Akram threatened to walk out with half the team if I was included in the team,” he said.
Akhtar’s book, Controversially Yours, stings like his deliveries.
In the book, Akhtar has questioned the class and temperament of India’s batting stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, accusing Tendulkar of being scared to face his scorching pace on a slow Faisalabad track.
He also claimed that Tendulkar and Dravid were not match-winners nor did they know the art of finishing games.
“....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.
“We would have faced a humbling defeat in the series but for the fact that we reined in Sachin Tendulkar.”
“What went in our favour was that Sachin was suffering from tennis elbow! This severely handicapped the great batsman. We managed to psychologically browbeat him.
“We bounced the ball at him and were able to unnerve him. I returned to the dressing room that first day with the knowledge that Sachin was not comfortable facing fast and rising ball. He was distinctly uncomfortable against me. That was enough to build on,” he said.
“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,” Akhtar wrote.
“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,” Shoaib said.
Akhtar 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.
Akhtar also spoke at length about politics in Pakistan Cricket Board. He didn’t shy away from taking a dig at two former captains Wasim Akram and 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.
In the book, Akhtar admits he tampered with the ball on many occasions — a flagrant violation of the rules of the game. Akhtar bowled at 161.3 km/h once.
Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram tried to ‘finish’ his career in his autobiography released on Friday.
The former Pakistan fast bowler has written in his book that Wasim Akram conspired against him.
“Wasim Akram threatened to walk out with half the team if I was included in the team,” he said.
Akhtar’s book, Controversially Yours, stings like his deliveries.
In the book, Akhtar has questioned the class and temperament of India’s batting stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, accusing Tendulkar of being scared to face his scorching pace on a slow Faisalabad track.
He also claimed that Tendulkar and Dravid were not match-winners nor did they know the art of finishing games.
“....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.
“We would have faced a humbling defeat in the series but for the fact that we reined in Sachin Tendulkar.”
“What went in our favour was that Sachin was suffering from tennis elbow! This severely handicapped the great batsman. We managed to psychologically browbeat him.
“We bounced the ball at him and were able to unnerve him. I returned to the dressing room that first day with the knowledge that Sachin was not comfortable facing fast and rising ball. He was distinctly uncomfortable against me. That was enough to build on,” he said.
“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,” Akhtar wrote.
“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,” Shoaib said.
Akhtar 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.
Akhtar also spoke at length about politics in Pakistan Cricket Board. He didn’t shy away from taking a dig at two former captains Wasim Akram and 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.
In the book, Akhtar admits he tampered with the ball on many occasions — a flagrant violation of the rules of the game. Akhtar bowled at 161.3 km/h once.