Meet the salesman of the year- Shoaib Akhtar

New Delhi: Ever boastful, the bad boy of Pakistan cricket Shoaib Akhtar has made some truly tall claims in an autobiography released on Friday, questioning the abilities of two of the greatest batsmen in the game’s history, India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

The two Indians have between them scored over 56,000 runs in Tests and ODIs, but Akhtar says in the book Controversially Yours that they do not know “the art of finishing the game.”

Pakistan’s enfant terrible, who claimed to have bowled the fastest ball ever of 161.3 kmph, chose to release the book here obviously with an eye on the lucrative Indian market. Characteristically, he makes tall claims in the book. “....Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and the likes of them are great batsmen who dominated with the bat and were truly match-winners. Initially, when I bowled against Sachin, I found these qualities missing. He might have had more runs and records, he lacked the ability to finish the game,” he said in the book.

Akhtar, who retired from international cricket during the World Cup this year, referred to India’s tour of Pakistan in 2006 and said that his team could have faced a humbling defeat but for the fact that they managed to rein in Tendulkar. “What went in our favour was that Sachin was suffering from tennis elbow! This severely handicapped the great batsman. We managed to psychologically browbeat him.

Akhtar also cited an example where he felt that Tendulkar was mighty scared to face him. “We would have faced a humbling defeat in the series but for the fact that we reined in Tendulkar.

What went in our favour was that Sachin was suffering from tennis elbow! This severely handicapped the great batsman. We managed to psychologically browbeat him. We bounced the ball at him and were able to unnerve him. I returned to the dressing room that first day with the knowledge that Sachin was not comfortable facing fast and rising ball. He was distinctly uncomfortable against me. That was enough to build on,” he said.

“I bowled (Sachin) a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn’t even touch. He walked away! That was the first time, I saw him walk away from me — that, too, on the slow track at Faisalabad. It got my hunting instincts up and in the next match I hit him on the head and he couldn’t score after that,” Akhtar wrote.

Akhtar who played for Shah Rukh Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders during IPL has accused the Bollywood superstar and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of “cheating.” “Shah Rukh and I talked about my not being happy with the money settled on me. Shah Rukh and Modi got me to agree. I should have never listened to them,” he said in the book.

Akhtar also created a flutter by admitting that he regularly indulged in ball-tampering. “Almost all Pakistani fast bowlers have tampered with the ball. I may be the first one to admit to it but everybody is doing it,” he revealed.

“To be honest, every team in the world tampers with the ball. We probably started it but today koi team doodh ki dhooli nahin hain. No team is innocent and virtually every fast bowler does it. That is the only way to survive because the wickets are so slow.”