The great thing about a blog, is that even from my couch, I can report on the great career of Shoaib Ahktar, the Rawalpindi Express. The worlds most overrated bowler. A man who’s hair seems to be straight from Vidal Sassoon, and who’s commitment to his country seems to only matched to Shane Warne’s Commitment in relationships.
In Pakistan, being tainted with match fixing isn’t a career-threatening event, it just means you probably won’t captain your country more than twice. So his steroid abuse (they must have been bad drugs, how often has he ever looked fit) shouldn’t really hurt him within the Pakistan cricket community.
Shoaib is everything that is wrong with Pakistan cricket. He is talented, undisciplined, thinks he is above the game, a terrible trainer, only plays when he wants to, fakes injuries, gets involved with all sorts of scandals, is likely to give up when things are going his way, overrated, great at bowling to average batsmen, and generally only plays his best when 100,000 people are screaming his name.
He has a test bowling average is 25. Which is terrific. A strike rate of a wicket every 44 balls, which is amazing. But he has played 43 tests, and has bowled 1200 overs. To compare him with someone who is the same age, Jason Gillespie (Australia’s least durable bowler since Bruce Reid and the sticky tape) has played 71 tests, and bowled almost 2400 overs.
And that’s Shoaib’s problem, Gillespie is a physical basket case, but he is a tough son of a bitch. Ahktar is soft, lazy and a prima donna. I’d actually put money on Mariah Carey if they were fighting each other. He has been sent home from tours, he just hit a team mate with a bat (having seen his batting, I think he was lucky to actually hit him). He has tampered with balls, and not in a subtle mentos kind of way.
So why do Pakistan keep this clown. You couldn’t imagine any other country putting up with this. I believe Pakistani’s are the most naturally talented cricketers in the world. But they persist with a washed up, (lets be honest he has been useless for a long time now) enfant terrible who really had his best years bowling with the two best sub continental fast bowlers ever.
I would also like to say, that at his best, other than possibly Shaun Tait, I have never enjoyed watching a fast bowler more than Shoaib. When he is fit, and most importantly, fired up, he is the most amazing showmen, who can destroy the best batting line ups in the world within a four over spell. I still remember a spell he bowled to Justin Langer at the Waca. Chest puffed out, breeze at his back, and you could sense he was looking for blood. I actually thought he might kill Langer. Tony Greig may have actually climaxed.
According to the records he is 32, but in Pakistan they count cricketers in dog years, so he could be 43. If Pakistan ever wants to be the team they were in 92 (Imran’s tigers), they need to things, strong dedicated cricketers and a leader who has a set of balls as big as Imrans.
For the good of world cricket we need Pakistan strong, virile and with cricketers who want to win, not want to be rich and famous.
Sometimes someone else sums it up better in one line that you can in an entire blog, so over to Asif Iqbal,
“The line has to be drawn somewhere and if it is not drawn here, the question has to be asked — are we waiting till he commits mass murder?”
When I last saw him at the Kotla, he was half fit, half misfit. Even stooped to bowl the odd spell in excess of 3 overs. But yeah, what a sight to watch him run in – all crazed, all teeth, all hair. IPL is made for mad-hatters like him. Though the 4 over spells in T20 might push him a little.
Re: Shoaib Akhtar hitting a teammate with a bat — as Shoaib himself admitted later, he was swinging for Shahid Afridi & hit Mohammed Asif instead, who was trying to stop the fight. Moral: he bats so badly he couldn’t even hit the guy he was aiming for.