Sport and controversy go hand in hand — some sportsmen stay away from controversies while others attract them. Take the example of Shahid Khan Afridi, who may have stayed away from fixing matches but not from controversies. His tell-all autobiography has recently been announced but will he discuss the ball-chewing incident, the pitch-tampering controversy and the Shoaib-Asif fight ahead of the inaugural World T20 is something that remains to be seen. Considering it’s Boom Boom we are talking about, nothing is certain as he might admit later on that he never even gave his consent for the writing of the book!

However, many others have come out in the open after retiring from the game and discussing all which they didn’t talk about during their playing days. Be it Pakistan’s successful hockey captain Islahuddin, Little Master Hanif Mohammad or his brother Mushtaq Mohammad, everyone had something to say about the wrongs which cost them their careers. Then there are those who use these books to clarify things such as the Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, our very own Wasim Akram and the one and only Pele. Let’s go down memory lane with these sportsmen who had a wonderful time as players and kept us entertained even after exiting the arena.

Nobody remembers the first sportsperson to speak his mind through written words but Len Shackleton’s name will always come up when ‘controversial’ autobiographies are discussed. In his tell-all titled Clown Prince of Soccer published in the 1950s, there was one chapter that gained popularity because there was nothing written in it. The Sunderland legend targeted football officials by labelling that chapter ‘The average director’s knowledge of football’ and the empty page beneath made him more famous than he already was.

Omair Alavi surveys what results when sportspersons pick up the pen …

The world doesn’t care what Edson Arantes do Nascimento has to say but as Pele, the Brazilian is known as the greatest football star on the planet. In his Pele: The Autobiography, the legendary footballer talks a lot about his early life, his ability to win World Cups and the invention of the bicycle kick. However, he also reveals many of his personal details, including his affairs, something he had never told anyone, including his family. Smart, if you think about it!

But Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic wasn’t that smart when he wrote his controversial autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The former Barcelona star footballer lashed out at his coach Pep Guardiola and termed him as afraid of his rival coach Jose Mourinho.

Let’s take a look closer to home. Pakistan hockey team’s legendary captain Islahuddin Siddiqui blamed the then president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation Nur Khan and his decisions for the downfall of the game. Dash Like Islah features Islah’s opinion on how the decision to have him sacked after countless successes affected the progress of Pakistan hockey and why the late Nur Khan shouldn’t be given the credit for the team’s earlier ascent. In fact, Islah claims that had Nur Khan not intervened when he did, things might have been different in the current era where the game isn’t even followed by the once-hockey-crazy nation.

Another great, Wasim Akram, plays it safe in his autobiography which came out when he was out of the team. It doesn’t complete his entire career. He blames the journalist community for not believing in him when he was fined by Justice Malik Qayyum but he doesn’t use the book for his defence as much as his followers would have liked.

His contemporary Curtly Ambrose, however, blasts the West Indies Cricket Board for their inept performance in his Time to Talk. The tall pacer also doesn’t mince words when talking about his county Northamptonshire where he was treated as a second class citizen despite being the top-ranked bowler in the world. The chapters where he describes Malcolm Marshall’s hatred for him are the best because, in his opinion, he was a newcomer who needed guidance and he didn’t get any from Marshall who kept comparing him with his own contemporary, Joel Garner.

Talking of fast bowlers brings us to aggression and the word was synonymous to both Dennis Lillee of Australia and Javed Miandad of Pakistan. While Lillee in his autobiography Menace discussed incidents involving him such as his tantrums on being told not to use an aluminum bat and his spat with English cricketers, he reserves a special place for the infamous kicking incident involving Javed Miandad. The Pakistani great, however, didn’t give it that much of importance when he came up with his Cutting Edge for reasons better known to him alone. Javed Miandad needs to update his autobiography as he seems to have missed a lot of things which people in this day and age really want to know about.

The Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar lived dangerously and, even after his retirement, spoke dangerously. In his Controversially Yours, the speedster came out all guns blazing against his nemesis Sachin Tendulkar. And while he spoke at length about what he called the Master Blaster’s ‘cowardice’ while facing express pacers, he also supplied details about how the Pakistani pacers destroyed the famed Indian batting on what turned out to be their last trip to the country. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar in his Playing It My Way talks more about his wife and kids than the actual details that people wanted to know about. There is no mention whatsoever of Shoaib’s allegations as well as the classic first-ball duck at Kolkata. Instead, he clarifies that he believed that in the second innings he was erroneously given run out when, in his opinion, he had clearly collided with the Rawalpindi Express. Remembered the collision but not the demolition … really ‘playing it his way!’

Sachin Tendulkar does get destructive in his book, when he talks about the famous incident in South Africa where match referee Mike Denness handed punishments to six Indian players. He also blasts another match referee Mike Procter for doubting him in Australia during the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal. He also doesn’t have anything good to say about former Indian coach Greg Chappell, who was liked by no one. He also mentions his broken heart on his inability to complete his double century in Multan when the captain, Rahul Dravid, declared the innings when Sachin was on 194. Reminds you of Javed Miandad, 280 not out, doesn’t it?

Australian cricketers of the last decade still maintain that the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal wasn’t handled properly by their board. The captain in that match, Ricky Ponting, criticised the Australian cricket board in his Ponting: At the Close of Play, claiming that calling Andrew Symonds a monkey wasn’t a small matter and it should have been pursued rather than giving in to the demands of Board of Control for Cricket in India. His teammate Michael Hussey disclosed that after the match Sachin Tendulkar refused to shake hands with the Aussies! In Michael Hussey — Underneath the Southern Cross, he wrote that “Perhaps Sachin wasn’t a god, just another human like the rest of us.” Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, who was behind the stumps when it all happened, claims in True Colours that Sachin Tendulkar lied during the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal as he knew that what Harbhajan Singh had said was a racist slur.

Pakistan is one of those cricket-playing nations which don’t recognise their legends in their lifetime. Former captain Mushtaq Mohammad in his autobiography Inside Out writes about the way he was kicked out from the side after quitting Test cricket for limited overs. He also mentions an incident in which he was witness to former Test captain Javed Burki’s insulting treatment of Fazal Mahmood during Pakistan’s tour of England in 1962. Fazal Mahmood had — in Dusk to Dawn — written a lot about the shabby handling he got from the juniors after his comeback to the side in the 1960s. His teammate Hanif Mohammad in his Playing for Pakistan spoke about the way he was asked to quit Test cricket in 1969. Either it was his career on the line or that of his younger brothers Sadiq Mohammad and Mushtaq Mohammad.

Then there are those who have other stuff to talk about instead of cricket. England’s Sir Ian Botham in Head On defends his conduct on many occasions, be it the case of an in-flight assault, allegations of racism, ball-tampering or the use of drugs. Modern day star Chris Gayle discusses the way things are handled in West Indies by their incompetent cricket board in Six Machine: I Don’t Like Cricket ... I Love It! He discloses that one of his two triple centuries came after he was unceremoniously dropped from the side, which fueled the desire to score runs in his heart. And score he did!

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen is the modern day Ian Botham because of his antics. In KP: The Autobiography, he settles all scores from his early days to the tension in the dressing room to the Twitter-bashing that cost him his place in the English side. Former South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs tries to come out clean in To the Point where he discloses how his former captain Hansie Cronje corrupted him during his early days. He also talks about his drinking problem as well as sexual encounters that cost him a place in the national team despite being one of the top achievers.

Usually tennis players have a clean career and they just talk about their matches and their contemporaries in their autobiographies. But Andre Agassi delivers ace after ace when his chance to serve with the written word came. Open is the most controversial autobiography in recent times as the tennis star discloses that he wore a wig to hide his baldness, struggled with methamphetamine use and had grown to hate tennis before he became a superstar. Told in a flashback format, the book also has him discussing his failed marriage to actress Brooke Shields, his relationship with his father, his hatred for Boris Becker and Jimmy Connors, as well as his own insecurities.

And last but not the least, let’s talk about the books that brought about the downfall of Lance Armstrong, the cycling hero. Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong’s key lieutenant during his Tour de France wins, in his The Secret Race exposed the doping culture that defined Armstrong’s success. Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd also discusses drug abuse and political corruption in his controversial autobiography Thor in which he wrote that Lance Armstrong admitted to using banned substances to him in 2011. Former cyclist Paul Kimmage’s A Rough Ride book confirmed that doping was rampant in professional cycling and that some of the big names were involved in the ‘game.’

The writer tweets @omair78

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 30th, 2016