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Shoaib Akhtar Biography
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Shoaib Akhtar (Punjabi, Urdu:

However, he has been involved in several controversies during his career, often accused of not being a team player. Akhtar was sent home during the Test match series in Australia in 2005 for alleged poor attitude. A year later, he was embroiled in a drug scandal after testing positive to a banned substance. However, the ban imposed on him was lifted on court appeal. In September 2007, Akhtar was banned for an indefinite period for his fight with Pakistan team mate and fast bowler Mohammad Asif.[2] On 1 April 2008, Akhtar was banned for five years for publicly criticizing the Pakistan Cricket Board.[3] In October 2008, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan suspended the five year ban and Akhtar was selected in the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 Quadrangular Tournament in Canada.[4] Pakistani judge, Rana Bhagwandas stated once that, Akhtar is a legend of Pakistan cricket.[5] He retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup.

Contents

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* 1 Early years

* 2 Career

o 2.1 International career

o 2.2 Struggle for form and consistent injuries (2007–2009)

o 2.3 Rehabilitation and final years (2010–2011)

* 3 Domestic career

o 3.1 England county cricket

o 3.2 Indian Premier League

* 4 Cricket controversies and injuries

o 4.1 Drug scandal

+ 4.1.1 Acquittal

o 4.2 Other controversies

* 5 International bowling records

o 5.1 Test cricket: Five-wickets in an innings

o 5.2 Test cricket: Ten-wickets in a match

o 5.3 One Day International: Five-wickets in an innings

* 6 Career Best Performances

* 7 References

* 8 External links

Early years

Akhtar was born at Morgah, a small town near Rawalpindi, Punjab in Pakistan.[6] His father was a plant operator in Attock Oil Refinery, Morgah.[6] Akhtar started his studies at Elliott High School, Morgah and then took admission in the Asghar Mall College, Rawalpindi.[citation needed]

Career

International career

Akhtar's run of impressive performances started in the 1990s. In 1999, during a pre-World Cup series against India, he rose to prominence. It was followed by outstanding bowling performances in Sharjah and later in 1999 Cricket World Cup. His most significant performance was in India in 1999 when he captured eight wickets in the Asian Test championship match at Calcutta – including the wickets of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries. This was Akhtar's first encounter with Sachin Tendulkar, in which Akthar bowled him off the first delivery he delivered to the batsman.

In 2002, he was selected for the Pakistan team against Australia and achieved success. However he performed poorly during the 2003 Cricket World Cup and after the tournament he was dropped from the Pakistan squad. He was selected back into the Pakistan squad in the 2004 Test match series against New Zealand, but struggled in a losing Test series against India in 2004. The series ended with a controversy when he left the field citing an injury leading to suspicions by former Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, about his commitment to the team. As a result, his relationship with Inzamam-ul-Haq and former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer deteriorated. A medical panel was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board to investigate the nature of his injury, however Pakistan officials dispelled all suspicions.[7]

In 2005, Akhtar regained his reputation as a fast bowler for his side. Playing in a three Test home series against England, he made a series of impressive bowling performances. His effective use of slower deliveries proved to be unplayable by the English batsmen. Akhtar emerged as the highest wicket taker of the series with seventeen wickets. His comeback was also remarkable as prior to his return, he had been criticized from all corners-such as by the Worcestershire chairman John Elliot for his celebrity attitude and lack of commitment to team. His performance was also acknowledged by the English captain Michael Vaughan, who remarked "I thought he (Shoaib) was a big difference between the two teams".[8] He is also known as the bowler who broke the 100 mph barrier in cricket bowling history, with a delivery of 100.2 mph, and this delivery at stands as the fastest recorded to date.[1]

Struggle for form and consistent injuries (2007–2009)

On 29 October 2007, Akhtar made his return to cricket, from his 13 match ban and performed well, taking 4 wickets for 43 runs against South Africa in the fifth and deciding One Day International series in Lahore in Pakistan. Subsequently, he was included in the 16 man Pakistan squad for the 2007 tour of India, which he completed successfully without further incident and injury.

Rehabilitation and final years (2010–2011)

Akhtar made a return to international cricket albeit in the shorter format of the game. In May 2010, PCB named him in a list of 35 probables for the Asia Cup. On 15 June 2010, Akhtar made his return, taking 3 wickets for 28 runs in the first match of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.[9] He narrowly missed out a spot in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in place of the injured Umar Gul.

In July 2010, he was selected for the Twenty20 series against Australia but the selectors decided not to play him in the Test squad so that he would not get injured. He was subsequently selected for the ODI and Twenty20 series against England in September 2010.[10]

Akhtar returned to the national side representing the country against England in the Twenty20 International. He bowled an impressive spell and returned with figures of 2 wickets for 23 runs.[11] He continued to bowl well in the ODI series in the absence of regular fast-bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who were suspended by the International Cricket Council amid allegations of Spot-fixing. Despite his relatively good bowling form, Pakistani coach Waqar Younis insisted that the bowling attack must not become reliant on Akhtar, as he is 35 years of age and fitness troubles continue to affect him.[12] Akhtar was selected for the tour of New Zealand and started his campaign off well with 3 wickets on Boxing Day in the first of two Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand.

Akhtar was selected in Pakistan's 15-man squad to play in the 2011 World Cup hosted by Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka in February to March. During the tournament, he announced that he would retire from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. Several International cricket players congratulated him for his outstanding career performance, most notably Ricky Ponting: "I had some great duels with Shoaib over the years. To this day I always said he is the fastest bowler I have faced in international cricket." Ponting said he remembered a particularly fierce spell from Akhtar at Perth in 1999: "His one spell that everyone can watch on the internet of him bowling at me at the WACA that was reasonably entertaining, more so entertaining for Justin Langer I think. "Langer was at the other end laughing at me all the time when I was trying to keep all the deliveries of Shoaib out. He was express pace, a very, very good bowler." [13]

Domestic career

England county cricket

Shoaib Akhtar signing an autograph for his fans.

Akhtar has played for three English county cricket clubs, including Somerset in 2001, Durham in 2003 and 2004 and Worcestershire in 2005. He did achieve his moments of success, such as taking 5 wickets for 35 runs for Durham against Somerset in the National League in 2003 and claiming 6 wickets for 16 runs in the same competition for Worcestershire against Glamorgan two years later, but he suffered from fitness problems, as well as a perception that he was less than interested in his task. This was particularly the case at Worcestershire: chairman John Elliott said "Players like that are no good to our club. In fact, Akhtar has been no good for any club he's been at. He's a superstar and just does what he wants."[14]

Indian Premier League

Akhtar made a successful return to cricket in his first game in the Indian Premier League, playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Delhi Daredevils. Defending a low score of 133 runs, Akhtar took four top order wickets which ultimately led to the Daredevils being restricted to 110 runs. He ended with figures of 4 wickets for 11 runs from three overs, a performance which earned him the player of the match award.[15][16] Akhtar denied that he had any point to prove with his performance, stating, "I just wanted to win the game." Knight Riders' captain Sourav Ganguly also acknowledged Akhtar's performance, "He came to the country with lots [of things] happening behind him...But he showed a lot of character."[17] It has been widely reported that the Knight Riders have released Akhtar from his contract due to his injury history but the Knight Riders' officials have denied these reports and said they are still in talks with the fast bowler

Shoaib Akhtar