Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistan fast bowler has narrated an amusing incident involving himself and Sachin Tendulkar during Pakistan’s 2007 visit to India. At an awards function during the tour, Shoaib Akhtar tried to lift Sachin Tendulkar for fun but ended up dropping him, which scared the hell out of the Rawalpindi Express.
Pakistan toured India for five ODIs and three Test matches in November-December 2007. The was the last time India and Pakistan featured in a bilateral Test series. Looking back at the tour, Shoaib Akhtar provided some interesting details of the incident involving him and Sachin Tendulkar.
Shoaib Akhtar Recalls Good Memories From India Visits
Pakistan and India’s last bilateral ties at either of the two neighbouring countries were 2 T20Is and 3 ODIs in India way back in 2012. Speaking on Sportskeeda’s official YouTube channel, he revealed that he tried to lift former Indian batting legend, Sachin Tendulkar, for fun.
“After Pakistan, if there is one country where I have received a lot of love, it is India. I have a lot of good memories from my visits to India. During the 2007 tour, there was an awards function. So obviously, there was a get-together after the function. As usual, I wanted to do something different. “
” So I tried to lift Sachin Tendulkar, just for fun. I managed to lift him but then he slipped from my hands. Tendulkar fell down, not that badly, but I thought to myself that ‘I am dead’. I feared that if Sachin Tendulkar gets unfit or injured, I would never get an Indian Visa. The Indians would never allow me to come back to the country or would burn me alive.”
Adding that while they were rivals on the cricketing pitch, Shoaib Akhtar stated that he was great friends with Sachin Tendulkar off the field. Sharing more about the incident, the former pacer continued that he hugged Sachin Tendulkar after he fell down and feared that if he was injured, it could have caused trouble.
“When he fell down I really thought I am done for life. I remember Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were also there and they were telling me, ‘what are you doing man?’ And I responded saying ‘I don’t really know, it just happened.’ So then I went and hugged Tendulkar and asked him if he was okay. Thankfully, he said he was fine.”
“Then I told him if anything would have happened, it could have caused big trouble to me, especially with the media and all the fans in India. Tendulkar later hammered us in the series. At that point, I wished he was unfit (jokingly).”
Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record for 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 revealed that Sachin Tendulkar was fit and also played the series. And for his visa, he continued to stay in India and also returned to the country for the 2011 World Cup, which was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. India won the five-match ODI series 3-2 and followed up with a 1-0 win in the three-match Test series. The Master Blaster scored 259 runs in ODIs and 139 runs in two Tests.
Shoaib Akhtar Has A Habit Of Playing Pranks
In the same video, Shoaib Akhtar admitted that he had a habit of playing pranks, which sometimes went wrong and even ended up injuring people. Revealing details, he added that he once jumped on Yuvraj Singh’s back and pressed Shahid Afridi’s neck for which the latter got hurt and was ruled out.
“Yuvraj is my buddy. I once jumped on his back. Bhajji is a witness to that. I pressed Shahid Afridi’s neck, he got hurt and was ruled out. So these are the instances I remember. It’s not a great joke but I just did it for fun and sometimes injuries happened.”
Renowned as one of the fastest bowlers of his time, Shoaib Akhtar played 46 Tests, 163 ODIs, and 15 T20Is, claiming 444 international wickets.