Chak…. de.. Shoaib Akhtar
Posted on May 5, 2008
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The “Rawalpindi Express†as he is known by is widely regarded as the fastest bowler ever in cricket, having twice bowled over the 100mph mark (one of these deliveries was against Nick Knight of England in a match in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa). Even on the most dead of pitches he was just as lethal as ever, being able to deceive opposition batsman with his vast bowling weaponry that include fast Yorkers, well disguised slower balls, swinging deliveries and sharp bouncers.
A Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal accepted a plea from Shoaib that the ban should be suspended temporarily so that he can play in the Indian Premier League.
Shoaib had signed for the Kolkata Knight Riders before being struck off the IPL’s roster.
There have been many highly regarded pace bowlers in the game of cricket that can bowl at blindingly fast pace with devastating consequences for any batsman that makes a miss-shot or attempts a shot but is deceived by the lightning pace of the express pace bowlers. Pakistan is one cricketing country (also including countries like the West Indies, Australia, England etc that have produced bowlers of the highest caliber and pace such as Malcolm Marshall, Jeff Thompson, John Snow, Courtney Walsh, Brett Lee and co) that has produced express pace men such as Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and the player that this profile is about- Shoaib Akhtar.
However as brilliant as his bowling skills he was perhaps overcome by stardom (and later on an overinflated ego) when he played in the 1999 Cricket World Cup in the U.K. He achieved a cult status in the cricketing world with his hurtling run-up, his flopping mop of hair, his “acting†skills in show-boating, and his vividly memorable nickname of the Rawalpindi Express (in reference to the area he was brought up in- a town called Morgah which is near Rawalpindi in the Punjab region of Pakistan). It was during the time where he achieved stardom and a cult status amongst cricket enthusiasts that contributed to the hype surrounding him, which ultimately led to his ego over-inflating.
An ambition of creating history by being the first cricketer to break the holy grail of bowling- the 100mph barrier, which he did at the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa) together with the overinflated ego fuelled by the hype and stardom he inherited were things that were said to matter to him more than being in the Pakistani team. His cricketing career has being filled with several incidences of controversy that have revolved around him, such as being banned from cricket in November 2006 for testing positive for the banned substance Nandrolone (which he was later aquitted of, with visible disgust from international drugs agencies), cricketing authorities sidelining him over queries to his bowling action (they perceived him to be a “chockerâ€- which is when you bowl illegally by bending the elbow more than 15 degrees instead of keeping the arm straight, as it’s meant to be) however he was also cleared of this when the University of Western Australia conducted studies on his action and came up with the revelation that he has hyper-extend able joints in his bowling arm.
He later brushed controversies aside and in 2002 he utilized his potent resources better when he blitzed Australia with bowling figures of 5 for 25 in a One-Dayer in Brisbane, and then also bowled an equally impressive spell in Colombo with figures of 5 for 21 which influenced Pakistan’s victory in the Test there. In the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa however was very disappointing in comparison and was subsequently dropped after Pakistan’s disappointing showing at that World Cup. It appeared the selectors had faith in him when he toured with the team to New Zealand and regained his legendary form, but this was short-term as afterwards Pakistan went on a highly controversial and forgettable tour to India where not only he struggled for wickets but he left the field in the 3rd Test of the series supposedly with wrist injury and back pain and it appeared to be suspiciously controversial when neither of the “injuries†appeared to bother his batting ability.
RECENT CONTROVERSY ABOUT SHOAIB AKHTAR ——
Shahrukh Khan firmly stood by Akhtar in this testing time of his as he clearly said “I will talk to the Board about their proposed move. I want to be acquainted with the reason behind such a big decision and I will try to see what best I can do further.”
Shahrukh Khan’s statement came a few hours after IPL’s Commissioner Lalit Modi made it clear that Shoaib can’t play for the Knight Rider owing to Pakistan Cricket Board’s 5-year ban on the speedster.
However, IPL Board will give an option to Kolkata Knight Riders to replace Shoaib with another player. Now the ball is in the Kolkata franchise’s court whether to fight for Shoaib or to look out for a better replacement until he is cleared by PCB.
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