Shoaib Akhtar Reveals Saqlain Mushtaq Had Told Him About Sachin Tendulkar’s Stature

Aug 15, 2022 at 5:20 PM

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Shoaib Akhtar Reveals Saqlain Mushtaq Had Told Him About Sachin Tendulkar’s Stature

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan star made a huge claim on Sachin Tendulkar as he talked about his playing days. India will face Pakistan in a blockbuster clash in the men’s Asia Cup game on August 28. Both sides will be meeting for the first time since the 2021 T20I World Cup match last year where the Babar Azam-led side registered a magnificent 10-wicket win.

Over the past many years, the games between arch-rivals India and Pakistan are restricted to global (ICC) and continental (Asia Cup) tournaments, owing to political tensions between both nations.

Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar Photograph: Niklas Halle’n/AFP/Getty Images

Shoaib Akhtar Reveals Saqlain Mushtaq Had Told Him About Sachin Tendulkar’s Stature

Both sides share a rich cricketing history, and the rivalry between India’s batting great Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar is, perhaps, the most famous of all. The two have met on the cricket field on many occasions and while both share a healthy respect for each other, their rivalry on the field remained significantly intense.

However, Shoaib Akhtar has now revealed that when he emerged in the cricketing scene, he didn’t truly know the stature of Sachin Tendulkar in world cricket. In fact, it was his fellow teammate and Pakistan spin great Saqlain Mushtaq who told him about Sachin Tendulkar.

Saqlain Mushtaq©Reuters
Saqlain Mushtaq©Reuters

“Saqlain told me about Sachin Tendulkar and his stature. I didn’t know about him. I was lost in my own world. I didn’t know. I only knew what I will do and what the batter was thinking,” Akhtar said in a video posted by Star Sports on Sunday.

Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record for recording the most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs. Incredibly, he retained a divine enthusiasm for the game till his last match. He also scored the first double-century in one-day cricket.

In 2012, he became the first player to score 100 international centuries. Later that year, though, he announced his retirement from ODIs. And on November 16, 2013, Sachin Tendulkar retired from Test cricket after a memorable 200th Test-the most by any player.

Shoaib Akhtar Said One Can’t Be A Star Without Being A Match Winner

Further speaking about his mindset during the conversation, Shoaib Akhtar said that he only thought about bowling fast and winning the match for his country.

“The big difference between your fast bowlers and ours was that we used to look for excuses to bowl fast. Whenever I used to realise that the ball is reverse-swinging, I thought, ‘If I get a spell here, I will run through the batters’. I will just take the five wickets there and win the match for Pakistan. You can’t be a star without being a match-winner. We used to win games for the country,” Shoaib Akhtar said.

Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar (Credits: Twitter)

There are near-endless tales surrounding the legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, and fiery pacer Shoaib Akhtar and their numerous battles and face-offs on the cricket field.

Be it in the Kolkata Test in 1997, the India high-voltage India-Pakistan World Cup match in 2003, or the Faisalabad Test in 2006, every time Shoaib Akhtar has bowled to Sachin Tendulkar, it has made for some fascinating viewing.

The pacer featured in the headlines across the world for bowling a delivery at 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph), in an ODI against England during the 2003 World Cup. Shoaib Akhtar was fondly nicknamed the “Rawalpindi Express” for his speed. He was also the first bowler to be recorded bowling at 100 miles per hour and did so twice during his career.

Shoaib Akhtar was undoubtedly one of the fastest bowlers in international cricket and his 178 Test wickets and 247 ODI scalps are a testament to what he achieved when he was in his prime form.

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