On 10 September 2023, a video of former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar went viral on social media wherein he was heard boasting about his deliberate attempt to cause life-threatening injury to former Bharatiya cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in the 3rd Test in Karachi of the 3-match Test series held in January-February 2006 in Pakistan. But before this, too he had made a confession, which did not get the sort of condemnation it needed from the cricketing fraternity.
On 22 October 2021 itself Shoaib Akhtar courted controversy after he confessed to bowling a ‘deadly beamer’ intentionally to Bharatiya cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the infamous Faisalabad Test match between Bharat and Pakistan in January 2006, which was the 2nd Test of the series. Actually he had confessed that it was deliberate earlier too in August 2020.
Shoaib Akhtar confessed, “I had made the same mistake with Dhoni in Faisalabad. I had thrown a beamer at him intentionally. Dhoni is such a nice guy and I respect him. I felt very bad about it. Yes, he is a good player who hit me for a few runs. Why did I decide to attack him (with a beamer)? If the ball would have hit Dhoni, he would have been grievously hurt (do-teen-paanch) in 2005 itself.”
The footage of the incident has been shared by Cricket Cloud on their YouTube channel. At about 3:58 seconds into the video, Akhtar could be seen throwing a deadly beamer at MS Dhoni at about 156km/hour speed. Dhoni was lucky it was way down the leg side and escaped unhurt.
After that incident of January 2006, former Bharatiya fast bowler Javagal Srinath had said that that beamer was unpardonable. He wrote:
“The beamer bowled by Shoaib Akhtar in the last ball of the 126th over during the Indian innings in Faisalabad was definitely against the very spirit of the game. After being hit all over in that over, he came round the wicket and slipped in a beamer and aimed it straight at the throat of batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
What followed next was an arrogant, nonchalant walk back by the bowler without even tendering a fake apology to the batsman or umpire.
Had it hit the batsman, the beamer could have proved fatal. Such acts need to be severely condemned and even punished. The laws of cricket may suggest that the bowler would be reprimanded on the first instance, but here it needs to be dealt beyond the rule book.
The Faisalabad wicket was slow and the bowlers were at the mercy of the batsmen all the time. One could understand the frustration and the sense of defeat that was creeping into the bowlers. But, all said and done, the beamer, bowled at [over] 150 kmph [actually 156 km/hr], clearly indicated that Akhtar had no sporting intention whatsoever. [One should read between the lines, and understand that Srinath means that Akhtar wanted to kill the batsman.] We have seen the best of Pakistan bowlers in Imran, Wasim and Waqar operating with not just great pace but with class and finesse. This tour of Pakistan is underlined for friendship and peace and this incident was not too far away from making the entire effort collapse.”
Cricinfo commentary for this ball said: “(no ball) Akhtar to Dhoni – nasty chest high full toss, looked like it slipped out, thankfully it went well down the leg side, glares exchanged”
But on another occasion, this writer had read a commentary somewhere else which said: ‘That was a deadly, dangerous beamer. That could have easily knocked Dhoni’s head off. Luckily for Dhoni it was way down the leg side. Umpire Simon Taufel warns Shoaib Akhtar.’
One doesn’t need this commentary to know that. That can be seen by anyone watching the video. Had the beamer hit Dhoni, it would have knocked his head off. Srinath in his article in January 2006 said that Shoaib Akhtar did not even bother to give a fake apology. The commentators live on air at that time were the late Dean Jones of Australia and Waqar Younis of Pakistan. Dean Jones said on air that the ball slipped out of his hand, but Waqar Younis condemned this act of Shoaib Akhtar and said that he did not think it slipped out of his hand, meaning it was deliberate. He condemned his erstwhile team-mate Shoaib Akhtar for not apologizing.
What Srinath, Waqar Younis and many others felt, that that beamer was deliberate was confirmed by Shoaib Akhtar himself. It was, in plain English, an attempt to murder. Shoaib said that it was an attempt to injure, but in reality it may well have killed Dhoni, knocked his head off.
Shoaib Akhtar was very temperamental throughout his career. In September 2007 in the first Twenty-20 World Cup in South Africa, he hit his team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat. After that, former Pakistan captain and commentator Asif Iqbal demanded a life ban on Shoaib Akhtar. Asif Iqbal said: “The line has to be drawn somewhere and if it is not drawn here the question has to be asked are we waiting till he commits mass murder?”
It showed that Shoaib Akhtar was quite capable of committing murder, and his beamer to Dhoni was an attempt to do just that. Fanaticism of Pakistani cricketers and particularly of spoilt brats with a severe temperamental problem like Shoaib Akhtar is exposed here. Just being hit for three fours in 4 balls in an over made him want to kill Dhoni, and attempt the murder by bowling that dangerous beamer, which also appeared to be a throw ball on seeing the replays (throw generates extra pace).
It is very sad to see the entire media, and all cricket writers, ignore this issue completely now, after Shoaib Akhtar confessed that that beamer was deliberate, and not call it for what it was- attempt to murder.
-M D Deshpande
