Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro (MNA Pakistan Peoples Party)

SOUTHAMPTON: The British media gave a one final gift to the visiting Pakistan cricket team on early Thursday as they caught fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar doctoring the cricket ball during the final One Day International between Pakistan and England.

  

England wrapped up the series by winning the fifth ODI at Rose Bowl in commanding fashion but cameras kept looking for yet another scandal to give Pakistani cricketers some torrid memories of the tour.

 As per the reports of a British tabloid, Shoaib Akhtar was caught on camera tampering the cricket ball in the 41st over of the innings.

 In the picture released by the tabloid, Shoaib Akhtar can clearly be seen scratching the ball with his left thumb so as to make it reverse-swing. If that wasn’t enough, the speedster dropped the ball on the ground and stood on it with spikes right on the seam.

 This is not the first time that Shoaib Akhtar has been accused of ball-tampering. He was caught by the SkyTV cameras rubbing the seam of the ball with his thumbs four years ago on the previous tour.

  

Akhtar was banned once by the International Cricket Council for two ODI matches and fined 75 percent of his match fee for the same offence during a game against New Zealand in Sri Lanka.

 Pakistan have already lost their two premier fast bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, to the spot-fixing controversy and if Shoaib Akhtar is dealt with by the ICC for ball-tampering then it would further increase tension for the Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi, who is looking to rebuild the team for the next year’s cricket world cup.