Ball-tampering, chucking, hitting a teammate with a bat, not getting along with the authorities, substance abuse, sex addiction... Just a few of the controversies that plagued Shoaib Akhtar during his 13-year-long international career. Not to forget the fact that he had the audacity to say that India’s cricketing God, Sachin Tendulkar, was afraid of facing him. Is it a surprise then that Akhtar, who has been painted a pantomime villain, has had a tough time selling his book, Controversially Yours, in India (his book release function in Mumbai was also called off)? Add to that the statement he made, “He may be your god, but he is not my god. I’ve always believed he is great. I've said so in my book. If you like it, buy it. If you don’t like it, eat chaat.” At the risk of sounding sympathetic towards the man, it is safe to assume that any man with shoulders less broad than Akhtar would have crumbled and given up. But not Akhtar. In fact, the first few chapters, all about Akhtar before he became a star, are excellent, even inspirational.
Born into a poor family, Akhtar had it really tough and at one stage nearly died of coughing bouts. But he never gave up. The night before he was scheduled to appear for a selection trial at the Pakistan International Airlines team, he befriended a tonga-wallah and slept in his tonga. He promised the tonga-wallah that he would seek him out and meet him if he ended up playing for Pakistan, a promise he kept. He was obsessed with speed as a kid and it was quite evident throughout his career.
As you flip through the pages, you realise why the bad boy image stuck with him throughout his career. And to be fair to him, he makes no bones about having little regard for rules and says that not having a mentor probably made him what he was. Even as a college student, he rode a motorbike into the principal’s office. Akhtar is someone who divided opinion like no one else. His fans believe that watching him in full flow was one of the most exciting sights in cricket while his detractors always thought he was just an overrated bowler blessed with speed but extremely unreliable. Akhtar doesn’t do himself too many favours by dispelling any of these notions.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the book is the way Akhtar describes how Pakistan cricket functions. Books by Pakistan cricketers have been far and few — with only Imran Khan and Javed Miandad offering insights into Pakistan cricket. But Akhtar gives a no-holds-barred account in this book. From talking about different camps that existed within the team to players taking anti-depressant pills, he takes on one and all. He claims there have been several matches and series where he wasn’t on talking terms with any of his teammates. Some genuinely loathed him while others were too scared about upsetting the senior players. He was often accused of faking injuries, a claim he strenuously denies. “I have taken injections, pills and abused my knees too much just so that my country and teammates aren’t let down by me,” he says.
He crucifies the media and says it was always looking for someone to blame and he was their favourite whipping boy. At one point while talking about Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach who died in West Indies during the 2007 World Cup, he writes: “I thank Allah that I wasn’t part of the team then, otherwise the media would have charged me with murder — charged, not accused.”
The book, co-authored by Anshu Dogra, is peppered with Urdu and Punjabi phrases that are aptly used to describe the situation. One of the most staggering things about Akhtar is that there is hardly anyone with whom he hasn’t had a problem. Be it his captains Rameez Raja and Inzamam-ul-Haq, or coaches like Woolmer, Javed Miandad or Intikhab Alam. His disdain for the various PCB chairmen is pretty obvious when he writes, “They don’t know how to run a cricket team.”
The book is a refreshing read overall, especially the bits where he says that ball-tampering should be made legal. He makes a strong case for it and believes the game is too much in favour of the batsmen. While the purists have slammed him for making such claims, it is good to see a player coming out and justifying something that is against the laws of the game.
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One of the downsides of the book is that most of his cricketing career is focused on Akhtar alone and there is little insight about what he thought of his opponents. The bits about Sachin Tendulkar being scared of him have already been highlighted. But they have been exaggerated. Akhtar calls him one of the greatest batsmen of all time but with certain flaws. He reserves some of the highest praise for Brian Lara and Imran Khan. As for the rest, either they are not deemed worthy enough by him to deserve space in his book or he didn’t get along with them. At the end of the book, you can’t help but marvel at the man and his spirit of not quitting. With all his flaws, it is surprising and heartening to learn that his achievements came against all odds and against many people who wanted him far away from Pakistan cricket.
SHOAIB AKHTAR
Controversially Yours
Harper Sport
280 pages; Rs 499