Former Pakistan Test pacer Shoaib Akhtar has once again found himself in a new controversy after actor Meera claimed that she had a year long affair with the speedster, who never appreciated her commitment. Pakistan's popular and well known actor said that the affair took place two years back while Shoaib was still playing for the national team. "It was an intense affair and I wasted one precious year of my life waiting for him. I was committed and sincere to him. But he didn't appreciate me," she told Geo News Channel. "It happened two years back. I was sincere to him. But I ended the affair when on the same day he proposed to me and my cousin. It was a joke for me," Meera, who is known for her publicity stunts, said.

Meera, who has even worked in Indian movies and had a spat with Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, also claimed that Shoaib had once slapped her in front of some staffers at a television station but she did not say a word for his sake. However, Shoaib, who retired during the 2011 World Cup abruptly and is currently working as an expert with a channel for the Pakistan-England series, denied the allegations.

"I don't know what she is talking about," he said. Shoaib also said that he was never romantically involved with Meera. "I never had any affair with Meera. The problem is that if a well known cricketer even smiles at a girl she thinks he is in love with her. I had no relationship with her at all," he claimed. This is a second Pakistani cricketer in recent years to be romantically linked with a actor. Banned pacer Mohammad Asif was also linked to Veena Malik and the two ended their affair in acrimonious circumstances with the latter filing a police complaint about Asif for not paying her back a loan in millions.