‘This is a god? Iss ki khairiyat nahi’: Shoaib Akhtar recalls facing Sachin Tendulkar for the first time

Most Indians remember the six that Sachin hit on the bowling off Akhtar at the 2003 World Cup. Akhtar has already mentioned that he had his big moments against the ‘Master Blaster’ but most forget those due to the iconic six.

Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar have had many battles throughout their illustrious careers. Sachin was the best batsman of his era with several records to his name while Akhtar was a ferocious fast bowler constantly breaking speed records. A battle between the two cricketers was seen as the ultimate test of their talents. There were times when Akhtar came out on top while there were situations where Tendulkar dominated the ‘Rawalpindi Express’.

Shoaib Akhtar and Sachin Tendulkar(Getty Images/Reuters)

Most Indians remember the six that Sachin hit on the bowling of Akhtar at the 2003 World Cup. Akhtar has already mentioned that he had his big moments against the ‘Master Blaster’ but most forget those due to the iconic six.

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Akhtar recently talked about the time when he was youngster breaking into the Pakistan team and was bowling to Tendulkar for the very first time in his career during the Kolkata Test in 1999.

“I heard Sachin was the god. I said this is a god? Iss ki khairiyat nahi. He didn’t recognize me, and I didn’t recognize him. He was in his own attitude and I was in my attitude. But I wanted to get him out on the first ball and that happened,” Akhtar told Pakistani news channel ARY News in an interview on Saturday.

Akhtar is known for making controversial statements. Speaking to Geo Cricket on a YouTube show, Akhtar pointed his guns towards the BCCI over the postponement of the T20 World Cup and even dragged in the ‘Monkeygate’ controversy to make his point. Akhtar indicated that it was the influence of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that ‘saved’ Harbhajan Singh during the controversy surrounding Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds.

“Sometimes they get easy wickets in Melbourne, at times someone calls another person a monkey but gets saved, the talk goes to boycotting the series. I am asking the Australians, where are their ethics?” Akhtar said.

Talking about the postponement of the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Akhtar Said that the tournaments could have taken place as per schedule.

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“Asia Cup could have definitely happened, it would have been a great chance for India and Pakistan to play against each other. There are many reasons behind this. I don’t want to get into that.

“T20 World Cup could have also happened, but I had already said this earlier that they won’t let it happen. IPL should not be damaged, let the World Cup go to hell,” Akhtar said.