How Shoaib Akhtar tried to teach fellow Knight Riders a few 'tricks' during season one of IPL
How Shoaib Akhtar tried to teach fellow Knight Riders a few 'tricks' during season one of IPL
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That John Buchanan decided to devote a whole chapter in his new book on Shoaib Akhtar, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in Season One of the Indian Premier League, meant that he had much to reveal about the controversial fast bowler.
He indeed has. Among all things (including the bit about Greg Chappell telling him that Shoaib would be his biggest problem), Buchanan has indicated that the Pakistani speedster tried to introduce ball-tampering in the KKR set-up.
Donald's dream
Ball-tampering is in the news again thanks to South African fast bowling great Allan Donald, who said in an interview to Cricinfo that the game's generals should allow bowlers to do something to the ball in a batsmen-dominated world scenario.
In The Future of Cricket the rise of Twenty20, Buchanan writes: "On one particular occasion, I recall our (KKR) bowling group discussing how best to bowl to a strong batting line-up. Shoaib spoke about a range of different strategies including the need to swing the ball. And, then he told us of various methods used by some of his Pakistan teammates, a few of which were very much line-ball in their legitimacy.
"I heard what he said but deemed those methods not appropriate for this franchise or the tournament. He was simply trying to assist the team. He was open and frank about such bowling methods but at the same time it was part of the 'add-ons' which I did not think contributed to the culture I was trying to build within the Knight Riders."
In November 2002, ICC match referee Clive Lloyd found Shoaib guilty of ball tampering in a Test match in Zimbabwe. He was let off with a severe reprimand. The following year, the quickie was slapped a two-match ban by referee Gundappa Vishwanath in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Sarfraz Nawaz, the erstwhile Pakistan swing stalwart, who was known to look after the ball in his playing days, slammed Donald's view. "Donald has gone mad. It's not possible to legalise ball tampering. It's not ball tampering, it is reverse swing.
"If ball tampering is allowed, Test matches will end in less than two days. It will become a bowler's game. Test cricket is all about the bowler and batsman making an effort. Ball banana ek art hai (to work on the ball is an art), and you should not allow the use of illegal means."
Is cricket clear of ball-tampering with so much technology and policing? "Ball tampering still exits. However, the methods of doing it have changed. The umpires cannot pick it up with the naked eye," reckoned Sarfraz.
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