Shoaib Akhtar: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, also known as the Rawalpindi Express, has admitted that he and off-spinner used to take banned painkillers to stay fit and take the wicket of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, known as the God of Cricket, during Pakistan’s 1998-99 tour of India.
Shoaib Akhtar: Live Doping Confession On The Tapmad Show
The former Pakistani bowler admitted during the Tapmad Show that players were under intense pressure to hide injuries via doping. He added that players were fooling senior cricketers as well as members of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Interestingly, Saqlain was seated next to Shoaib and didn’t object to the doping claims.
Interestingly, Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for Nandrolone (19-nortestosterone, a banned anabolic androgenic steroid). Both Pakistani fast bowlers were withdrawn by the PCB from the Champions Trophy 2006 after they were caught doping.
Reasons For Doping
Shoaib admitted that he was using banned painkillers and injections to stay in supreme form during the Indian tour of Pakistan. The former bowler also mentioned the name of Sachin and said he and Saqlain used to hide their body injuries and doped under pressure.
The Rawalpindi Express remarked that Saqlain and him had once placed a bet on who would take the wicket of Sachin during the Pakistan’s 1998-99 India tour. Akhtar added that the knees of both of us (Shoaib and Saqlain) were damaged and therefore we took banned injections and pills to keep ourselves going.
Shoaib went on to remark that the senior players in the team would have dropped them if they had known about their doping practices. He added we therefore doped quietly just to stay on the cricket field.
Shoaib Akhtar took 247 wickets at an average of 24.97 in 163 One Day Internationals. He also took 178 wickets in 46 test matches at an average of 25.69.
