Ban of the batch

So Shoaib Akhtar has been banned again, and this time it looks like the ban will stick. His Pakistani teammates must be heaving a sigh of relief. Perhaps his IPL teammates should also be grateful for the reprieve.

Late last year Akhtar got into a minor scrap (which became major news) with teammate Mohammad Asif which left Asif carrying a bruise from Akhtar's bat. The incident was yet another stain on Akhtar's messy career.

Asif explained to reporters that "Shahid [Afridi] was trying to make Shoaib understand that he needs to change his attitude towards junior players and communicate more with them. He told Shoaib that juniors were wary of him."

Pugnacious and unreasonable colleagues are the bane of every team, whether sporting or corporate. Properly harnessed, aggression can be useful, but when it goes too far it breaks up the "team spirit" that allows a group of individuals to achieve great things.

Akhtar's actions damaged the "atmosphere of trust" that coaches and sports scientists (not to mention management consultants) strive to build and enable.

He may also have actually damaged the health of his colleagues