Shoaib Akhtar has always been very infamous for his controversial takes regarding the India vs Pakistan rivalry. Throughout his career, he has been very open-mouthed and it is due to his habit that many ex-Indian cricketers do not think twice before bashing him on social media. In a recent interview, Shoaib Akhtar made yet another comment which might not be much welcomed by the Indian masses as it is against India’s very own God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.
In a recent interview with Zee News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary, Shoaib Akhtar claimed that he had once torn Sachin Tendulkar’s muscle with a certain delivery.
“Once and for all I want to clear this thing, this was all media hype. The thing is that when you write a book, you will then have to explain everything because things are taken out of context. I had said in Faisalabad, he then had that tennis elbow injury because of which he could not hook and pull. So my idea was to bowl short to him and maybe scare him a bit to use that weakness that he had because of tennis elbow. Maine Sachin ki pasli tod di thi. I never wrote Sachin is scared of me, never said he is not a great player,” Shoaib Akhtar said.
“I have a lot of respect for him and I have even gone to his place in 2016 and told him that. He cooked for me and for the record he is also a great cook and an even better human being. I told him what I had written about him and Sachin said, ‘Leave all that whatever it is. You had hit me during a match in Guwahati. Do you know where you had hit me?’ he asked and I said I think it was in your rib cage,” Akhtar added.
“Sachin said that night he went to the hospital and found out that he has a fracture in his rib cage and still went on to play against him. He couldn’t breathe and Sourav Ganguly was saying something but he couldn’t breathe. I asked him why didn’t you tell me? and Sachin said, ‘You were on top of me and India were in a spot of bother then. I went to the hospital and found out that I have a fracture on my 12th or 13th rib but I continued playing’,” he cleared things up.
“So I never said Sachin or Ganguly used to be scared of me. It was just media hype… I accept that he is the greatest ever,” he concluded.
“Maine Sachin ki Pasli tod di thi” : Shoaib Akhtar makes controversial comment
