'I'll come back supremely fit'
Shoaib Akhtar attempts to defend himself against allegations of poor fitness and indiscipline
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It's simple really. I was saying that I'm fit and keen, but I have no clue what Grant Compton (the PCB physio) told the Board in his report. But it's history now. The team's been selected and they've gone. I'm gearing up now for my county games, the Super Series and England's tour of Pakistan. I'll be supremely fit for those games.
It was very disappointing, but I thought I did the right thing by not playing. I wasn't fit enough, and I never thought that I could make the whole tour. I'd had a hamstring strain for two or three months before that, even before we went to Australia. It was aggravated in Australia, and I couldn't get fit in time for the India games. But yeah, I always look for the biggest series. That's your opportunity to perform big against the good teams. The bigger the occasion, the more I enjoy it, so in that sense, it was a low point.
I'll probably cut down my run-up after the World Cup in 2007. At the moment, I'm enjoying myself with the long run, and at the moment I'm comfortable with that. I'll think of shortening it when it's needed.
The bigger the occasion, the more I enjoy it |
(Laughs) A lot of these people don't have a clue about the gym, they've never even been inside one. Anyone will tell you how necessary gym-work and cardio (cardiovascular exercises) are these days. I weigh 84kg now. In Australia, it was 83. So I've put on one kilogram, and that's muscle. During the off-season, you have to work on your muscles to prevent wastage. I have a six-pack on my belly right now, so I don't know how people can call me fat.
These doctors have never checked me, they've not weighed me to see if I'm overweight or not. There's been no medical test. People are just saying things without even looking at me.
I can still touch my forehead with my knee (laughs).
I'm there to get some good practice and perform well for the club. It's a great opportunity to do something for myself, to show people how keen I am to play. My objective isn't to make money, it's to win games for the county and get fit for the Super Series along with that. I have a great reputation in England, and that's why they keep calling me back to play every year.
No, not at all. I'm so happy that pressure is drifting towards other players. If others can perform and win games for the country, people will realise that it's not about one man.
Rana bowled superbly. He's a great fighter, and I can see a good partnership with him once I'm playing for the national team again. I've always been a humble servant for my country, giving 100%, and it will be great to bowl with these guys. I give it everything and I think I can change the scenario of a game.
I have completed a few series. If you look at it, McGrath didn't play that full series and Gillespie didn't either [both did, actually, with only Michael Kasprowicz making way in Sydney]. They were rested. You can't play a full series these days. You have to use your fast bowlers sensibly.
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That's true, pace being thought a luxury. If you ask me, I still think fast bowlers can turn things and win games. The kind of pitches they make don't help. On batting-paradise pitches, it doesn't matter how quick you are, you'll get hammered. How many pitches can fast bowlers enjoy themselves on? You see batsmen scoring nearly 300 in almost every game these days. It's just a joke for the fast bowlers. We also have cricket round the year. I have the county season, then the Super Series, then England, India and the West Indies coming to Pakistan. We'll be playing almost nonstop till the next World Cup, and you'd have to be a machine to stay fit for all the matches.
I don't know. If you want to talk about my commitment levels, I have 80 Test-match wickets in the last 15 games and 47 in the last 20 one-dayers. I've been serving the country without a problem for the last eight years.
That's not right. After they dropped me, Imran [Khan] spoke, Wasim [Akram] spoke, [Javed] Miandad spoke. There was reaction from the newspapers. People do support me.
Younis Khan has spoken to me, Afridi has spoken to me ...
Don't know.
I cannot get a five-wicket haul every time, especially when the other team needs only 120-odd to win. There was no total on the board, and at the same time I had been complaining about my hamstring in every Test. I took an injection for my hamstring and played the third Test [bowling 15 overs]. If I wanted to rest I could have. The management could have rested me and got me fit for the one-day series.
I think the best judge is the manager on the tour, and he has given me a good report. Even the newspapers carried that. He had no problem with me, on or off the field. I don't know where people get this idea from.
I never said things like that, never said I was doing it on my own. Sami bowled well in that first Test [Perth] and we had them 78 for 5, with a chance to win the game. But we couldn't finish it off, unfortunately.
Well, Afridi spoke to the papers recently and made it clear what my team-mates think of me. Younis has spoken too. A few people have a problem with me, not all.
They should sit down with me and tell me what to do, what not to do. I have no clue what the team's talking about. I'd like a chance to know what it is people say, what kind of attitude problem they're talking about. Look at my performances. Can someone be unfit and indisciplined and perform like that?
When I'm performing and winning matches for my country, I don't hear these things. When I'm out of the team, these stories start. I don't have a problem with the team. I've spoken to my team-mates and they have no issues. It's a story created by newspapers.
Don't know. Some just want to create an image for me as a bad boy, which is not true. People respect and love me. I got over 2000 letters from India asking when I would be back to play in the series in India.
(Laughs) Not interested in any movie or being an actor. My passion is cricket. He's a cricket lover who would like to meet me. But we've not talked about movies or anything. Where do I have the time?
Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Cricinfo