KEY POINTS:
Twenty20 Is known as a game of hit and giggle but no one was laughing after Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar was sent home for hitting team-mate Mohammad Asif with a cricket bat.
One the eve of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, which starts on Tuesday, Akhtar said he was provoked into the act which saw him expelled.
The troubled bowler also compared his behaviour to that of French footballer Zinedine Zidane, who stunned the world with his headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.
"I am sorry for my act. It was a two-minute temper loss which caused me and my team embarrassment and I apologise," Akhtar told AFP.
The 32-year-old hit Asif on the leg with a cricket bat after a row during practice yesterday and team management, in consultation with the Pakistan Cricket Board, decided to expel him.
"I was provoked and I will brief the media about the whole affair on Saturday evening when I return home. I have never hit anyone like that and I am very sorry," he added.
"Zidane did it in a World Cup final and I am also a human being. What happened was not good but I am also a human being and what can happen to a human being in a fit of anger, a random act, is unbelievable."
Akhtar has endured a torrid year.
Last year, he and Asif were sent home from the Champions Trophy for testing positive for nandrolone. Both were banned but won their appeals.
Last month, Akhtar was fined for leaving a training camp without informing team management but again the fine was suspended on appeal.
The latest episode, however, is likely to jeopardise his return to cricket. He has played only four one-dayers and two tests in the past 19 months.
The World Cup starts on Tuesday when South Africa meet the West Indies. New Zealand, who have also drawn Sri Lanka, play Kenya in Durban the following day.
Brendon McCullum and Mark Gillespie hardly had the best preparations after both picked up illnesses.
McCullum was confined to his hotel bed yesterday, while Gillespie vomited at practice and returned to the team hotel early. They were not expected to play Australia in a warmup this morning but coach John Bracewell was hopeful both would be available for the second warmup against the Windies on Monday morning.
- Agencies
