UAE | General
What's wrong with Shoaib Akhtar?
- By K. R, Nayar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 October 26, 2003
 Munir Hafiez |
Cricketer administrators, before dubbing him as the most unruly player of his era, need to study him before punishing him.
In modern cricket, a cricketer needs to be corrected not only in his technique but also his character.
The International Cricket Council's emphasis is confined to providing facilities and honing of talent. They expect a certain level of common sense and intelligence from the player and rules have been framed accordingly to ensure discipline.
They believe that cricket is still a gentleman's game despite players resorting to all kinds of unsporting acts on the field, including sledging.
How do we then expect the present generation to still accept cricket as a gentleman's game? Only a select few of the cricketers who are aware of cricketing history may try and behave in a respectable manner on the field.
The ICC should not expect this from those who may not have completed their schooling and are not able to communicate the game's language effectively.
The governing body is also keen to globalise the game and is promoting it aggressively in remote areas. It would be tough to expect the same gentlemanly behaviour from players especially if they are from those remote areas of the world where they are hardly exposed to etiquette and modesty.
Fast bowlers are an aggressive lot. The effort put in to bowl faster is much more than any other act on the field, and when the desired results are not seen, frustration naturally takes over.
Akhtar has proved that he is the fastest bowler in the world today. Obviously, the effort put in must also be the maximum. His injury list has been long, but he has faced them with great courage.
Many of his captains were hardly intelligent enough to judge the right kind of field placement he needed. Despite all that, he has bowled Pakistan to many winning positions.
But there have been occasions when he has seen his team lose purely due to bad team selection. Very rarely has he been intelligently used.
Bear the brunt
Had Akhtar grown along with players who knew to accept all these as part of the game, he would have learned to control his temperament. The unfortunate part is that he displays all his frustrations on the field and that too on opposing batsmen.
During the recent World Cup one got to spend some time with the mercurial pace bowler. Akhtar mingles with everyone and is not selective as some of the top players in his team.
He also loves to show off and most of his fans push him on to do just that. Unlike others who are capable of taking compliments at face value, Akhtar takes both praise and criticism seriously.
Cricket lovers in the sub-continent often lift their idols to great heights but pull them down equally fast when they fail to deliver. Just before the India-Pakistan match at Centurion, Akhtar put unnecessary pressure on himself by challenging statements like 'a boxer before the fight'.
Finally when the Indian openers, Tendulkar and Sehwag thrashed him mercilessly he didn't know where to hide.
Akhtar is temperamental. On some evenings he can be very jovial and on others equally moody. He is very restless in the dressing room and is often seen playing pranks on his teammates.
Ask for a picture with him and he may pose with his arms around you, provided the mood is right. Which is why it's so hard understand why someone with absolutely no hang-ups off the field can suddenly turn into a Mr. Hyde on it.
During his early days, Akhtar struggled to speak English; today he speaks it albeit with an accent. Dressing up in swanky outfits and hanging out with teenagers in the evenings is also something he looks forward to rather than attending official fomal, official receptions.
Coaches comment
In an interview to Gulf News, two of his coaches had interesting observations to make based on their close association with him. on him.
According to Mushtaq Mohammed, "Akhtar is not a thinking person. It is sad he has not been able to handle himself and control his wild, social side."
Mudassar Nazar, who has helped him tide over many tough situations, remarked, "Akhtar is one who is capable of inviting trouble. He can be a great player only if he disciplines himself."
What Akhtar now needs is some psychological training that will help correct his approach not only to life but also the game.
The ICC should not deprive the world of enjoying one of the finest talents in the game just because his human side cannot be corrected.
Factfile
Name: Shoaib Akhtar
Born: 13 August 1975, Rawalpindi, Punjab
Nick name: Rawalpindi Express
Top teams played for: Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan International Airlines, Rawalpindi Cricket Association, Somerset, Khan Research Labs, Durham, Pakistan
Batting style: Right handed batsman
Bowling style: Right arm fast bowler
Test debut: Pakistan vs West Indies at Rawalpindi second Test 1997-98
One-day debut: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe at Harare 1997-98
Test wickets: 108 wickets from 28 Test (updated till first Test against S.Africa at Lahore)
One-day wickets: 150 wickets from 92 One-dayers (as of fifth One-dayer against South Africa at Rawalpindi)
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