Over the hill and far away

If net session at Mohali is any indication,Akhtar,a shadow of his former self,has played his last match

Clutching his lower back after a short sprint in the nets,he moaned painfully. Puffing his lungs furiously,he rolled in again,feet stomping the soft Mohali grass with all its rigid flatness. A heave and another moan caused the leather to squirt wide down the leg-side. Grimacing,he held his flabby bowling shoulder in misery. If Shoaib Akhtars ego had any energy left after the beating it had taken,it would have walked right out of the PCA Stadium shame-faced just as his pace and his aura have withered away during the course of this World Cup campaign.

As former fast men Aaquib Javed and Waqar Younis,bowling coach and head coach of Team Pakistan respectively,watched expressionless from the background,a once truly great fellow practitioner of their art broke down systematically limb by limb,body part by body part. The physio worked overtime just before the sun sank below Punjabs horizon,massaging his shoulders,back and thighs,repairing his calves,groin and wobbling ankles. Lying flat on his stomach with greasy hair falling over his pouched eyebags,a showman had lost his show,a motormouth its motor,a steam engine its steam. All that remained on Saturday was hot air,from a chugging express gone by.

By the time Pakistans first practice session on Indian soil during this Cup ended,Akhtar,now resembling nothing more than a Rawalpindi three-wheeler,had given his team management every reason not to give him another go during the semi-finals against the Indians an opposition he has cherished bowling against more than others in the past.

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Having already announced his retirement from international cricket after the quadrennial event,the 35-year-old shadow of a once terrific fast bowler might still have more opportunities to prove his abilities before Wednesdays war,but the chances for a final hurrah look slim,quite unlike his bloated physique. Pakistan beat the Australians and the West Indies without his services,preferring a seam attack of Umar Gul,Wahab Riaz and Abdur Razzaq. Going by the disapproving nods of the Pak team management,that combination is not going to change for the mouthwatering clash.

Theres nothing more disappointing than watching a legend disintegrate,in skill and in body,but in Akhtars controversy riddled life,this campaign has arguably been his careers lowest point. With just three matches under his belt,the speedster has struggled to hit his stride,let alone set the speed guns blazing like he used to.

Bowling in the mid 130s,Akhtar went wicketless against the Kenyans,before getting smashed for 70 runs against a raging Ross Taylor in Pallekele a match that Pakistan lost to the Kiwis,a match that will probably be his last in one-day cricket if things dont change quite drastically over the next few days. And if anything has inspired Akhtar in the past,it is a showdown with India,and more specifically,versus Sachin Tendulkar.

Right from the time he burst onto the stage with powerful legs and a fast bowlers make-up in 1998,the outspoken Akhtar has made no bones about targeting Indias leading ODI batsman,chirping away at pre-match press conferences about how enjoys seeing fear in Tendulkars eyes,and how his wicket means more to him than Pakistans win itself. Considering both Tests and ODIs,the battle had once balanced itself evenly on a knifes edge,but Tendulkar tilted it irreversibly when the two teams last met during a World Cup at Centurion in 2003.

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With a couple of the most outrageous shots hit against Akhtars bowling,Tendulkar punctured his self-belief meticulously with two sixes,before leading India to one of its most famous victories ever. Akhtar bounced back with the blessings of bowling fast and the natural gift of the gab,but he has done everything since to throw it all away on and off the field. Fined for everything from chucking to ball tampering,beating up team-mates to missing matches,liposuction to verbally assaulting former greats,Akhtar has seen and barely survived through it all,taking his fans along on a roller-coaster ride.

But at least his most ardent supporters took comfort from the fact that despite all his wrongdoing,he could turn a cricket match on its head with sheer presence,and one scintillatingly fast ball. Unfortunately though,going by his cameo at Mohali on Saturday,one of modern-day crickets most colourful careers has come to a rather soft and ironically colourless end.