Shoaib Akhtar to Ricky Ponting: Sachin's not the only who wrote about controversies

Sachin Tendulkar courted controversy when he disclosed that former India coach Greg Chappell had approached him to replace Rahul Dravid as India’s captain just months before the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. [caption id=“attachment_1790827” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sachin Tendulkar made shocking revelations in his autobiography. AFP[/caption] Tendulkar wrote in his autobiography ‘Playing it My Way’ that Greg said, “Together, we could control Indian cricket for years”. However, Sachin is not the first player to write about controversies in a book. Here are some of the other prominent and highly respected cricketers who decided to speak their minds in their autobiographies: [caption id=“attachment_1790841” align=“alignnone” width=“620”] Shoaib Akhtar made negative remarks about Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in ‘Controversially Yours’.[/caption] Shoaib Akhtar’s ‘Controversially Yours’: Shoaib Ahktar, who holds the record for the fast delivery in cricket and was also called ‘Rawalpindi Express’, published the aptly named ‘Controversially Yours’. One of the most controversial statements which Akhtar made was about Sachin himself. “I bowled a particularly fast ball which he (Sachin), to my amazement didn’t even touch. He walked away!” Akhtar also wrote in his book that Sachin was “uncomfortable” against him and that he managed to “unnerve” Sachin. “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,” Akhtar wrote in his book. Akhtar did not stop there. He also took a dig at Rahul Dravid, writing that players like Dravid and Tendulkar “weren’t exactly match winners to start with.” Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Akhtar’s book was when he justified ball tampering and said everyone does it. He even said that “Tampering should be legalised.” [caption id=“attachment_1790885” align=“alignnone” width=“620”] Ricky Ponting expressed his controversial views on the Monkey-gate scandal in his book.[/caption] Ricky Ponting’s ‘Ponting: At The Close Of Play’: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting created controversy with his reference to the Monkeygate scandal in which India’s Harbhajan Singh had allegedly called Australia’s Andrew Symonds a monkey. Ponting described the incident as the biggest challenge of his captaincy. He went on to write that he was very disappointed with the way Cricket Australia, his employers, had capitulated to the demands of the BCCI in clearing Harbhajan after the match referee had banned Harbhajan for three matches. “Maybe the Indian cricket juggernaut of the 21st century is too influential to shake,” Ponting wrote in the book. [caption id=“attachment_1790889” align=“alignnone” width=“620”] In ‘Indian Summers’, former Indian coach John Wright wrote about the alleged wrongdoing which took place during selection of players.[/caption] John Wright’s ‘Indian Summers’: Former India coach John Wright critcised the selection process in India. “When it got down to the marginal selections, those last three or four spots that determine the balance of the team and your ability to develop new players, the zonal factor kicked in and things would get interesting. It was easy to tell when selectors had come to a meeting with an agenda,” he said. Wright also wrote in his book that with the exception of “real professionals” like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, Indian players, usually after a successful series or a long break, would return to the field with bad form and fitness. [caption id=“attachment_1790881” align=“alignnone” width=“620”] Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography spoke about the tensions and conflicts which took place within teams.[/caption] Kevin Pietersen’s ‘KP: The Autobiography’: British cricketer Kevin Pietersen described former England coach Andy Flower as follows: “He could walk into a room and suck all the joy out of it in five seconds. Just a Mood Hoover. That’s how I came to think of him.” Pietersen also claimed there was a culture of bullying in the England team, describing Matt Prior “worse than Judas” in his book. [caption id=“attachment_1790873” align=“alignnone” width=“620”] Herschelle Gibbs openly spoke about his sexual encounters and alcoholism in his autobiography.[/caption] Herschelle Gibbs’ ‘To The Point’: The South Africa cricketer created controversy when he wrote about the darker side of sports. “Two words: ‘women’ and ‘booze’. Whatever else has happened in my life, I can say one thing for sure: I have had a huge amount of fun in my cricket career,” Gibbs wrote in his book. Gibbs also talked about marijuana-smoking among his team mates while describing his sexual encounters in detail in the book. Gibbs also alleged in the book that former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur gave too much power to the then captain Graeme Smith. [caption id=“attachment_1790877” align=“alignnone” width=“620”] Jim Laker criticised former captain Peter May in his book.[/caption] Jim Laker’s ‘Over To Me’: Arguably England’s best offspinner, Jim Laker, severely criticised former England captain Peter May for his captaincy at Surrey and England and the then mananger Freddie Brown in his book, which was published in 1960. Laker also wrote against the class distinction that existed between amateurs and professionals in cricket. Laker received a lot of criticism for the controversies mentioned in his book. His honorary membership to Surrey and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) were temporarily revoked and he never played first-class cricket again.