SALIM ALTAF'S controversial stint with the Pakistan Cricket Board came to a controversial end. He was fired by the PCB chief over leaking a confidential email to the media. This indeed is  disgraceful end to a term long in hyper bole and short in performance. Leaking confidential material is considered a serious offence professionally the world over. But in Salim's case, it was a lot more than just an email leak albeit the axe came on being caught red-handed. He admitted to having leaked the email that contained sensitive information. Altaf had already lost the confidence of his peers, juniors and more importantly, of the cricket fraternity, for his high-handed approach and non professional attitude. He had already been sidelined, and rightly so, when he was appointed chief executive officer of the World Cup organising committee. He has worked in various positions in the PCB but such has been the dislike of his ways that he is having few sympathisers among the cricketers and administrators with whom he has worked. He was picked by former PCB chairman Shahayar Khan. The appointment was believed to be due to his strong political connections. An by the end of his term, Shaharyar Khan reportedly suspected him of undermining the chairman and the board. And then he again found a place in the PCB following the major reshuffle in 2007. As if his unnecessary row with Zakir Khan, currently PCB's director cricket operations, was not enough, he was believed to be directly responsible for the closure of cricket academies for 10 months and that without offering any alternate programme. The closure, according to independent sources and Ramiz Raja, hurt Pakistan development programme a great deal. Current director development Mudassar Nazar also concurred with the view.  Amidst all that, cricketers and officials blamed him for destroying domestic cricket when he introduced sub-standard balls in first class matches. For all the behind-the-scene machinations, fingers were being pointed towards him for long. But this time round, it was not just finger of suspicion but complete evidence that made Ashraf confront him leading to his ultimate exit. Salim Altaf is a former cricketer of the 1970s vintage who was expected to deliver a whole lot more than he eventually did in his nearly four years in office.