Akhtar hits back at his critics

Shoaib Akhtar is greeted by young cricketers during a visit to the Diamond Cricket Club in Islamabad © AFP

Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at his former captain Wasim Akram, accusing him of being part of a group constantly sniping at him.

Akhtar, who returned home early from the tour of Australia, told reporters that he was fed up with being made a scapegoat whenever anything went wrong with the Pakistan side. And he singled out Akram for criticism.

"I respect Wasim very much, he was a great bowler but his comments that I was no longer a match-winner have really hurt me," Akhtar said. "I would say that he should keep his views to himself. If you look at the records when Wasim was captain, you would know who was taking most of the wickets."

Akhtar was speaking after pictures appeared in newspapers showing him with women in an Australian nightclub. "This is an age of technology and photographs can be tampered with easily," he fumed. "Every day I have fans wanting their photographs taken with me, and say if a female fan comes up to me and puts a hand around my shoulder or holds my hand in so doing, those photos too could be shown to have been taken in a nightclub.

"No explanation has been sought from me by the Pakistan Cricket Board or anyone else ... they know that it has been another attempt to tarnish my image."

And he said that his injuries were caused by the workload he was being asked to shoulder. "I was bowling at speeds of 150km to six or seven batsmen who are all capable of putting on big scores. To win Test matches you have to have three genuine fast bowlers and there are only two bowlers currently bowling at speeds of 150, so there is always a chance of one getting injured; no fast bowler today is playing a full series. We need to play fewer one-day matches."