One of the fastest bowlers in cricket’s history Shoaib Akhtar recalled an incident, after which he thought he would never get an Indian visa. The Pakistani said that he tried to play a prank on Indian great Sachin Tendulkar, which went wrong. ” thought to myself that ‘I am dead’,” he said. 

One of the greatest rivalries in cricket – India vs Pakistan – consisted of smaller gripping battles and one of them was between Shoaib Akhtar and Sachin Tendulkar. Several former cricketers, from Virender Sehwag to Wasim Akram, have narrated anecdotes on how Akhtar and Tendulkar battled on the field but shared a warm camaraderie outside. 

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Akhtar recalled an anecdote from 2007. Indian and Pakistani players had gathered at an awards function in which he tried to lift Sachin Tendulkar for fun. However, the Master Blaster slipped from his grip and fell down.

“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,” Akhtar told Sportskeeda. 

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India won the three-match Test series 1-0, Tendulkar scored 139 runs in the two matches he participated in. 

“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.”

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“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,” Akhtar added.

The Indian side led by Virat Kohli will renew its rivalry with archrivals Pakistan when the two sides face off at the T20 World Cup this year. The ICC event will be co-hosted by the UAE and Oman between October 17 and November 14.