Controversially Yours: An Autobiography

Enjoyed reading it. Light and fast paced like Mr. Akhtar's bowling. Certain parts relating to the hardships, struggle and determination, can be very inspiring reading, not only for youngsters but also others who experience challenges in their day to day work. With all the time lost from being banned from play, there was a lot of talent wasted and more. It has a lot of practical work place lessons to be learned but one has to analyze each situation and apply it in your own context. The section relating to retired cricketers is very humbling and I am sure it holds true for a lot of cricketers from other countries as well as other professions. I will leave the controversial parts for individual readers to judge for themselves. I am sure I will read some parts, if not the whole book, again.

This book is a fine read to get an insight into the challenges faced by young Pakistan players, and how much politics is going on.

Amazing collection of his endeavours. Very candid and very interesting. Compared to India where cricket is worshipped, it's a completely different scene in Pakistan

As an avid follower of cricket ... particularly a great fan of fast bowling... I liked the book... but it’s not something you would want read again... some biographies are so compelling that you want to read them twice or at least bits of them again... make notes... this is not exactly like that... however credit to Shoaib... he has compiled this well... not giving a higher star rating as 1) it’s slightly expensive to the content I got out of it 2) the language and the presentation can be better 3) the overall involvement of the reader in the story is not really there I would suggest, if you are a fan of fast bowling and Pakistan cricket like I am... take it... it’s an ok read... you wouldn’t say wow... at the end of the book but you also wouldn’t curse...

Awesome book and a must read for someone who wants to know the truth about life of a pacemen straight from the heart. kudo's shoaib bhai...

Shoaib, After reading "Controversially yours", you have become "Gracefully ours". All the best with your future endeavors. God bless you. 👏👏👏

Like the insight of sohaib's early struggles and how he overcame them. How he has always been misunderstood. I hope he does well in his retired life n give back to cricket.

Its all lies and exaggeration.

Not only has the book been written by someone else but looks like quite a bit of the material is also influenced by the writer. Like Shoaib mentions that his school had no counsellor. Being a Pakistani myself, I can pretty much confirm that very very few schools in Pakistan have counsellors, so I don't know what Shoaib is trying to prove here especially when you consider his pretty low middle class upbringing? Maybe he was trying to justify his extra ordinary naughty behaviour when in school and college? A more likely explanation is that he was just acting up in an attempt to get noticed as he had desire from an early age for success, both for malarial goods, travelling and fame. Shoaib also rightly credits Rawalpindi Cricket Club for grooming him. This club has patrons within the Pakistan Army which itself is the most merit aware institution in Pakistan. Another aspect which helped Shoaib in his formative years is his positive outlook. He has acknowledged that he avoided people with negative outlooks on life and focused instead only on the positives. This single minded devotion to success probably also helped his chances in the cutthroat Pakistani cricket youth scene. Shoaib comes across as a for-ever-angry-young-man, which although is a necessary state in the beginning when you are trying to make it but has to discarded when you have made it. His book is filled with stark contradictions, no one helped him but there are quite a few named by him who have helped in with their time and money in the same book; seniors never groomed him but there seem to be many seniors like Majid, Waqar and Imran encouraging him in his own words at other places in the book; BCCP never helped him but the Chairman sent him to Australia to get his suspect bowling action certified. The thing is that coming from a low background helped him rise above the competition. It generated a desire of monster proportions inside him to succeed with his family having no other options but to allow him to keep playing. Most middle class families would diverted his energies into some other mundane 9-5 job. And most of all Shaoib's anti-Pakistani rants were very difficult to digest. He is a cricketer not a politician or an philosopher. There were sections in the book where Shoaib was trying to solve Pakistani issues like debt and joblessness. I wish he had had the sense to edit some of these vile comments from his book but then it wouldn't exactly make it controversial would it? Shoaib needs to realise that maybe when he complains over and over again how no one listens to him in Pakistan he actually means that he doesn't listen to everyone around him? How can he discredit his country of birth when all he achieved was in the same dis functional country, the same inept system and the same unimpressed cricket control board? If everyone was so apathetic then how was he ever selected for the Pakistan cricket team? All in all the book makes excellent readings, with unique inside into the world of Pakistani cricket seen from the eyes of a cricketer coming from an ordinary lower class family. I wish most other players would take the time out and write similar books about their lives as it does make very interesting insight into what-makes-Pakistan-tick. This book is politically incorrect and candid view of life as viewed by Shoaib who seems does seem to love controversy. Is this chip on the shoulder attitude prevalent in most Pakistanis? Shoaib seemed to have learnt his lesson by the end of his chequered career in the form of this most valuable advice for any budding cricketer,' it's best to relax, keep your mouth shut, not go complaining from pillor to post, and to remain alert for opportunities. There is a solution to all of one's problems but they will appear in their own time, so one must learn to sit it out and stop panicking.' Nice Shoaib Bhai, this alone merits 5 stars for your book effort at least. If not for anything else just one chapter called 'The dressing room' makes hilarious reading.

My daughters are turning out to be your huge fan.love from India

My favorite rebel cricket superstar. Loved to read about a glimpse into his life from humble beginnings to stardom. Took two lessons out of it. Firstly, One shouldn't be afraid to express himself full. Secondly, never forget who you are & where youve come from.

Really it is a magnificent book(a beautiful autobiography of a legend).It not only tells us about the ups and downs of the world's fastest bowler but also describes situation of cricket in Pakistan.He tells us about the hardships he's had to face since his childhood.The scene of not having even a proper house to live in as in Shoaib's childhood is heart breaking.His parents have given their fullest to bring him up.Though a lot of senior players of Pakistan insulted him and tried to spoil his career, he never ever bothered about them.Instead he challenged them and reached his goal.As an autobiography this book is an inspiration not only to cricketers but also to each and every human.Some incidents that take place (referring to PCB) are shocking.Your jaw may drop.As the title says it is a bit controversial in some cases.In some cases I do not accept his point of view, when he says Sachin and Dravid are not match winners.Sachin may not be a match finisher but he is truely a match winner and Dravid is a blend of both.Overall it is a beautiful book and is a must read for everyone.Hats off to Shoaib for entertaining cricket fans for over two decades.You get to know a lot of things about Shoaib that you would have thought wrong.And not does this book hold some amazing things about Shoaib but also it has some true fact about a lot of other Pakistani and a few other international players.It tells us about the hardships that a cricketer has to face not only in cases of the game but also of allegations and even the injuries, being the worst part.He tells us about a lot of other world class players from around the world like Ricky Ponting,Adam Gilchrist,Harbhajan Singh and many others.He respects Brian Lara a lot, and he loves his game.The way he reaches the 100 mph in Pakistan and is not recognised by the ICC and he again goes for it and achieves it is a great thing.He is one of those few people in cricket who has been loved and respected by all, including Bollywood celebrities like Salman Khan.He being a world renowned bowler is one those cricketers who have played for the game and their country and toiled hard.

Fascinating to learn of Shoaib’s early life and his journey into cricket. Also revealing insight into the culture of the dressing room at his time of playing. I felt the book could have been better edited (lots of repetition) but ultimately very readable and revealing.