I Wanted To 'Injure' Sachin Tendulkar, So I Hit Him On Helmet – Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar revealed about his plans to injure Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar during the 2006 Karachi Test.

Tendulkar, who allured the cricket fans with his captivating shots, is the highest run-scorer in Tests and ODIs. The former Indian player has scored 3,4357 runs from 664 games across all formats.

Sachin Tendulkar in the 2006 Karachi Test

Tendulkar scored 23 and 26 in the final game of the three-match Test series as India lost the Test against Pakistan by 341 runs and the series by 0-1.

Was determined that I had to wound Sachin Tendulkar in that Test: Shoaib Akhtar

Akhtar, who claimed three wickets in that game against India, said he wanted to deliberately injure Tendulkar and pestered him with bouncers.

“I’m revealing this for the first time. I intentionally wanted to hit Sachin in that Test match. I was determined that I had to wound Sachin in that Test at any cost,” Akhtar told Sportskeeda.

“Inzamam kept telling that bowl in front of the wickets, but I wanted to hit Sachin. So I hit him on his helmet and I felt he was done. But when I watched the video, I saw Sachin had managed to save his head.

“I tried to injure him again. But on the other side, Indian batting was facing music in the shape of Asif. I had rarely seen anyone bowl as good as the way Asif bowled on that particular day,” he added.

Mohammad Asif accounted for seven wickets in both the innings in the Karachi Test. Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan picked a hat-trick in the very first over of the game. Pathan dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf in his maiden Test hat-trick.

Akhtar picked 444 international wickets from 224 matches across all formats and head his own shares of battles with Tendulkar on the pitch.

Akhtar holds mutual respect with the Indian legendary player for his achievements.

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