I'm sure many of you wonder how all the different cricketers spend their time off the field, what they do in their free time, and so on.

We read about a lot of the off-field activities as well.

Such as Michael Vaughan and his real estate investments, Shane Warne and his nurses, Shoaib Akhtar and his genital warts, Imran Khan and his love child, Andrew Symonds and his "binge drinking", to mention a few.

Shahid Afridi's off-field activities, however, seem to be of a very different kind.

The day started with the news of why Shoaib Akhtar did not lead the Islamabad Leopards last night, and ended with the first century of the RBS 20-20 Cup.

Apparently the PCB contacted the Islamabad Cricket Association and told them that if they included Shoaib, he would be in violation of his central contract by not following the advice of PCB's medical experts.

That ends the genital warts saga, or maybe not so. Shoaib still has to speak and he will soon I think.

The 1st century of the RBS 20-20 Cup came from the bat of ICL rebel Abdul Razzak, who smashed the Quetta Bears for 8 sixes and 8 boundaries in a belligerent knock of 109 off only 51 deliveries.

Razzak raced to his 100 off only 48 balls; what was even more remarkable was that his 2nd 50 came off only 15 deliveries.

In hindsight, maybe the PCB should have fought harder for the inclusion of the ICL players in the World Twenty20 squad.

Salman Butt (31 off 20) continued his run of thirties; atleast he was more attacking than yesterday, but his opening partner Ahmed Shehzad failed to open his account.

With every innings I wonder why Nasir Jamshed is not in Pakistan's squad for the 20-20 world cup. For the 2nd day in a row he out shone Butt and Ahmed, with a knock of 58.

Razzak and Nasir ensured a huge total for the Lahore Lions, which was too big for the Bears who ended up losing by 74 runs.

The Lions are looking extremely strong - particularly the batting. Kamran Akmal has not had a hit yet in 2 matches, but he has been brilliant behind the stumps - 5 dismissals in 2 days and no drops - good going Kami!

The Karachi Dolphins, my favorites for the tournament, kicked off their campaign today with a big win over the Abottabad Rhinos.

For some reason Shahid Afridi is not leading the Dolhpins; Khalid Latif is. Found that quite strange considering that Afridi has led them to a couple of finals over the last few years.

Nevertheless, Afridi (34 off 20) was in fine form with the bat, but surprisingly he didn't pick up any wickets.

Fawad Alam as always showed once again why he is so highly rated on the domestic circuit -his 70 runs came off a mere 36 deliveries and inclued 11 boundaries; he even picked up 2 wickets with his left armers.

Pakistan need to make sure they get him in the XI once the World Twenty20 starts.

Alam was involved in a 100 run partnership with the Dolphin's opener and captain, Khalid Latif who smashed a 50 ball 81. His innings included 5 sixes and 7 fours and was another reminder to the PCB selectors about their wrong choice of openers for the 20-20 world cup.

Shahzaib Hasan though, who has been picked as the reserve opener, finally showed us why Younis Khan rates him so highly with an aggressive knock of 56 while opening the innings for the Karachi Zebras.

He has to do a bit more though to show me that he is a better bet than Nasir or Khalid.

Younis Khan (38 off 28) had another good day with the bat, however he led the Panthers to their 2nd loss in as many days. His and Pakistan's strike bowler Umar Gul though had another lacklustre day - he has now gone 2 matches without a wicket.

Misbah continues to be absent from the Faisalabad Wolves' ranks, and his stand-in Mohammad Hafeez continues to shine. He followed up his 74 and 3-5 yesterday with a 56 ball 79 and 3-14 against the Rawal Pindi Rams today.

Hafeez unfortunately will remain a domestic star; he has been unable to translate similar success in previous seasons at the international level.

Sohail Tanvir finally hit some form picking up 3 wickets today, but his effort was not enough to avoid a 2nd loss for the Rams.

After 2 days, the Wolves, Stallions, Dolphins, and the Leopards are leading their groups, with the latter 3 looking set for the Semi Finals.

The Lions look like the strongest team but they face a tough challenge against the Wolves tomorrow, the winner of which will win the race to the semi finals.

The first day of the RBS 20-20 Cup in Lahore witnessed Pakistan's ICL players returning to 20-20 cricket with a bang, while the Pakistan team members warmed up for their ICC World Twenty20 campaign.

The 13 team tournament kicked off today with 5 league games in Lahore.

As was reported earlier, Shoaib Akhtar did not turn out for the Islamabad Leopards. His genitals are probably still hurting and maybe someone forgot to tell him that painkillers do no good to warts in strange areas.

Coincidentally it was the same man who replaced Shoaib in Pakistan's World Twenty20 squad that captained the Leopards - Iftikhar Anjum.

Pakistan's captain, Younis Khan, leading the Peshawar Panthers in the competition, was the pick of the batsmen on day 1 as he played a belligerent knock of 70 runs off only 46 deliveries against the Leopards.

That was a welcome innings from the Pak skipper who has been struggling for runs of late in ODIs and 20-20 cricket. It couldn't have come at a better time with the World Twenty20 round the corner.

Imran Nazir, undoubtedly Pakistan's biggest star in 20-20 cricket who caught the world's imagination with a whirlwind century in the ICL final, returned to domestic cricket in Pakistan in a way that only Imran Nazir can.

He smashed the Karachi Zebras bowling to all corners of the Gaddafi Stadium in an unbeaten 68 off only 38 deliveries that included 5 sixes and 6 fours.

His effort led the defending champions, Sialkot Stallions, to an easy 8 wicket win over the Zebras as they chased down 133 with over 7 overs to spare.

The Stallions' captain, Shoaib Malik, was the pick of the bowlers with 3-25 in his 4.

Shahzaib Hasan, the 19 year old who was recently picked in Pakistan's World Twenty20 squad and is rated highly by Younis Khan, was bowled off the first ball of the Zebras' innings.

Saeed Ajmal, celebrated his clearance from the ICC with a top bowling effort for the Faisalabad Wolves, in which he conceded only 13 runs off his 4 overs and picked up 1 wicket.

The Wolves' skipper, Misbah, was missing from action for reasons that I have no idea about.

Mohammad Hafeez captained the Wolves in Misbah's place and came out with the performance of the day. His 74 runs led the Wolves to 218-2 in their 20 overs, and then he returned to destroy Quetta with his off spinners and ended with remarkable figures of 3-5 from his 4 overs.

Another ICL returnee to the ranks today was Abdul Razzak who captained the Lahore Lions and led them to an easy 8 wicket win over the Rawal Pindi Rams. Razzak did well with the ball picking up 2-28 in his 4 overs.

Sohail Tanvir, captaining the Rams, failed with both bat and ball. He came to bat at first drop and could manage only 7 runs, while his 2 overs cost him 20.

For the Lions, both the Pakistan openers - Salman Butt (30* off 24) and Ahmed Shehzad (28 off 32) - were among the runs, while discarded opener Nasir Jamshed played a little cameo knock off 32 off 17 deliveries.

I still don't get it what Nasir is not in the World Twenty20 squad.

In other news, while keeping for the Lions, Kamran Akmal managed to hold on to 1 catch and also effected a stumping. News is that he did not drop any, nor did he concede any byes.

Yesterday I told you how Shoaib Akhtar was fuming over his omission from Pakistan's ICC World Twenty20.

Well he hasn't kept the anger inside him and has let the PCB and the team management know exactly what he thinks of them.

He has even gotten the President of Pakistan involved in this matter.

The PCB and the team management, in situations like these, is not one to remain quiet.

And they have come out in the open about Shoaib Akhtar's addiction to pain killers, according to this article in The News.

This is not a surprise, because as soon as Shoaib pulled out of Pakistan's training camp, the popular opinion doing the rounds was that Shoaib will never feature in any ICC branded cricket series because of obvious reasons.

The obvious reasons being drug testing, which takes place in ICC World Cups and Champions Trophies, but not during bilateral tours.

However, the fact that Shoaib is trying to get back in the squad implies that he may not be on any drugs that are illegal as per the WADA terms.

Even though they were illegal for the UAE, which does in fact have stricter laws against drugs than even WADA.

Whatever it is, its quite obvious that Shoaib Akhtar has little friends left within the team and the administration.

First his genital warts become public, and now his addiction to pain killing injections.

What's next?

Shoaib is set to lead the Islamabad Leopards against Younis Khan's Peshawar Panthers in the opening game of the RBS 20-20 Cup, that gets underway from tomorrow in Lahore.

This drama has not ended yet.

Shoaib Akhtar is fuming at his omission from Pakistan's squad for the ICC World Twenty20.

Oh yes, he is fuming!

He's not fuming over the little information about his genital warts that has become public, but he's livid over the fact that he has been left out of the squad.

Shoaib thinks that he is fit to play and he wants to be a part of the World Twenty20.

The small problem is that Shoaib missed Pakistan's training camp up in the mountains, and he also missed the practice matches that the Pakistan probables played in Lahore over the last 3 days.

That resulted in Shoaib's omission.

But now Shoaib says that he is fit to take part and lead the Islamabad Leopards in the RBS 20-20 Cup that gets underway in Lahore from the 25th.

If Shoaib does turn out for the Leopards, it will be quite a slap on the PCB face, who have written to the ICC technical committee for approval to replace him in the World Twenty20 squad.

If Shoaib plays, then in front of the ICC he is fit and doesn't need to be replaced.

What will the PCB do then?

Stop him from playing the RBS 20-20 Cup?

They can sure as well try to, but I don't think it will work because from some reason the president of Pakistan is involved in the whole sham.

The PCB have apparently received a call from the President's house inquiring about why Shoaib was dropped from the World Twenty 20 squad.

That is not all but Shoaib Akhtar has also blamed Intikhab Alam for being responsible of keeping him out of the team.

Remember, it was Intikhab who first came out with the genital warts story.

The PCB statement came next.

A major controversy is brewing in Pakistan, and as always, Shoaib Akhtar is in the middle of it.

This is not the last you have heard of Shoaib Akhtar and genital warts!