Shoaib Akhtar: A portrait of a troubled cricketer; makes Asia Cup 2010 comeback
Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistani fast bowler, is one of the most controversial cricketers around. From doping allegations to partying all night in clubs to having a sexually transmitted disease; it is probably for these reasons along with his bowling that he is also one of the most exciting cricketers to watch and follow. The thing that separates him from his bowling peers is that he is phenomenally fast and is currently the fastest bowler in the world. Even though his own country's cricketing board, the Pakistan Cricket Board or PCB, has tried to rein him in over the years, Akhtar is all set to continue his brilliant bowling career, gelling it with his controversial ways into the future.
Shoaib Akhtar is a party animal and one who loves the limelight. He has been dogged by so many controversies in his career that it is hard to keep track of them all. Firstly, there was the controversy over his bowling action. Many experts claimed that he chucked the ball, which allowed him to have so much pace behind his deliveries. Here is how one newspaper advertised the entire fiasco, “The Pakistani bowler, whose case is currently being reviewed by the ICC, was accused of "chucking”. It seems that a lot of other bowlers have been accused of the same thing from Murli to Malinga and even Brett Lee has had a few deliveries questioned in the past.
Another striking controversy that has plagued Akhtar has been his love duet with drug related problems. The speedy cricketer has been accused of doping allegations and drug use in the past and has been banned from international cricket because of it. In 2006, Shoaib was banned from the game because of his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. “The 31-year-old fast bowler was banned from all international and domestic cricket for two years after testing positive for the steroid nandralone”. Akhtar maintained that he was innocent throughout his hearing and said he only used nutritional supplements. One should really ask the bowler one simple question - how can nutritional supplements magically transform into steroids? They must be very strong supplements indeed.
Being a fiery character that he is, it seems that no one can control this beast. Akhtar has been cautioned and penalised many times for his disciplinary problems. He seems to have a mind of his own and doesn't listen to anyone, not the PCB or the captain of his team. He does what he wants and this independence has plunged him into trouble over the years. Shoaib Akhtar recently got into a pickle with the PCB again by going and getting a liposuction operation done to remove excess fat from his body. The PCB was upset over the fact that he didn't inform them about his desire to get medical treatment to remove excess fat from his body. The problem in their eyes was that it would take him 3 to 4 months to recover and he wouldn't be able to play during that time. If anyone has seen pictures of Shoaib Akhtar these days or even in the past, one would be hard pressed to find any fat on him let alone excess fat. He looks more like a body builder these days and less like a cricketer.
The last thing that is also the oddest and most disturbing for any athlete is the fact that the bowler has been found to have a sexually transmitted disease. He contracted genital warts and a press release by the PCB gives us all the gory details. Here is what the press release had to say, “The medical board has reported that Shoaib Akhtar was suffering from genital viral warts and the wound needs further care and treatment for a minimum 10 days for the purpose of healing and to achieve skin cover”. So basically, if all his other problems weren't enough, he actually contracted a sexually transmitted disease. This was probably the icing on the cake or in his case, the warts on top of all the problems that have plagued this troubled bowler since he took up bowling.
Even though he seems all set to continue his controversial ways well into the future, his career is nowhere near the end. He is a phenomenal wicket taker, having taken more than 400 wickets in international cricket and is the fastest bowler alive. It could be this quality of his and the fact that he is so very interesting that he is a regular feature in the world of cricket.
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