September 08, 2007	Saturday	Sha'aban 25, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 7: Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar apologised on Friday for hitting team-mate Mohammad Asif, but said he was provoked into the act which saw him sent home from the Twenty20 World Championship.

Shoaib also compared his behaviour to that of French footballing icon Zinedine Zidane, who stunned the world when he head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the final of the 2006 World Cup in Germany last year.

“I am sorry for my act. It was a two-minute temper loss which caused me and my team embarrassment and I apologise,” Shoaib said as he headed back to Pakistan from Johannesburg in South Africa.

“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.”

Shoaib, who has played 43 Tests so far, begged forgiveness from Pakistan fans.

“Don’t make me a villain. I am a human being and I can also make mistakes.

“I am sorry for what happened and I hope people will forgive me. I am not a bad human being, it’s just that I get angry more often than others,” he said.

“I have missed a lot of cricket though injuries and now this has happened. I desperately want to play.”—AFP