The storm created by a political bomb exploded by Dr. Zulifqar Mirza had not yet subsided that the speedster Shoaib Akhtar has exploded a cricket bomb to shake the cricket world. It is in the form of his book 'Controversially Yours published in India in which the author has tried to portray himself a 'saint while dubbing others as trouble makers. As far as I know, Shoaib was one of the most ill-disciplined players that Pakistan ever had. It was almost the end of my third stint in the PCB when I had a short meeting with young Shoaib. Praising his performance I told him that 'based on my long experience in the field of cricket I could see that he had the potential of becoming a great player but to achieve the position he must adhere to some golden principles: (1) The success of a fast bowler depended on the highest standards of physical fitness, he must thus work hard to gain the same and maintain it for ever. (2) He must show respect for rules and regulations of the game and never violate the norms of discipline. (3) He must be regarded as a friendly and compatible member of the team as well as the cricket fraternity never indulging in controversies of any sort. (4) After achieving stardom, must remain humble, polite and friendly with others and not turn into a proud and stiff necked brat. Following his career I was happy to see Shoaib achieving the distinction of becoming 'fastest bowler of the world but was disappointed to find him having trashed all the good words of advice and turned himself into an in-disciplined cum controversial figure. He was punished twice for ball tampering by the ICC followed by involvement in a drug scandal along with speedster Muhammad Asif. His incidence of indiscipline, irregularities and idiosyncrasies reached to such an extent that he was tried by a PCB Arbitration tribunal and awarded 18 months ban along with a fine of Rs. seven million. As for his physical fitness, it degenerated to such an extent that at the last stage of his career he was even unable to bowl his quota of ten overs in the One day internationals. He may profess to be a saint but the fact remains that he destroyed his own career for his follies and personal misconduct. Coming to his biography, he perhaps thought that he will be showered with bouquets of flowers for it but to his dismay, the reverse has happened. Being a player of reckoning himself his act of undermining other great players of the world and criticizing Pakistans cricket is utterly mean. Discussing the evil of ball tampering he alleges that all bowlers of the world including Pakistan indulge in this practice. He confessed that it became such a habit with him that he could not resist doing something with the ball. Confessing his crime apart, pleading to legalise the same is a corrupt thought and disloyalty to cricket known as the 'gentlemens game. The issues discussed in the book clearly indicate his lack of wisdom, maturity, diplomacy, loyalty with Pakistan, PCB, his team mates and the overall cricket world. Considering himself a saint he has downgraded everyone else in the field of cricket. RAFI NASIM, Lahore October 3.