There is no denying the fact that the batting legend, Sachin Tendulkar’s battle with Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar used to gather a plethora of audiences on the ground. Even Sachin often used to smash the Rawalpindi Express with some scorching shots, the latter didn’t forget to return the favor either. Back in 2006, the Master Blaster had his niggles when India toured Pakistan for a Test series. So much so that he played Akhtar’s vicious bouncers bounces with closed eyes. Mohammad Asif, the former Pakistan pacer, made the revelations.
During a recent chat in Burgerz show, Ashwin went on to reveal the incident in the third Test at the National Stadium in Karachi. It was the same match when Irfan Pathan churned out a hat-trick in the very first over of the game.
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Asif explained how Shoaib’s attacking approach restricted India from taking a first-innings lead. Recalling the game, Asif said, “When the match started, Irfan Pathan claimed a hat-trick in the first over itself. Kamran Akmal scored a century lower down the order. We scored around 240 runs.”
H further added, “When we started bowling, Shoaib Akhtar bowled at express pace in that match. I was standing at square leg near the umpire and I myself saw that Tendulkar closed his eyes while facing one or two bouncers bowled by Shoaib.”
Pakistan went on to win the match by 341 runs. Kamran Akmal, who bailed the hosts out of jail with 113 runs in the first innings, was named as the Player of the Match. For Tendulkar, the series was a roller-coaster ride. In three games, he only managed to score 63 runs. It was also the time when he was facing the issue of the tennis elbow.
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Asif also recalled the game in which Virender Sehwag smashed the triple ton in Multan and India had a power-packed batting unit. He said, “If you remember the Indian team that came to Pakistan in 2004, they had a solid batting line-up. Dravid was scoring plenty of runs, Sehwag smashed us at Multan.”
