Sachin Tendulkar Won't Accept That He Was Scared Of Shoaib Akhtar: Shahid Afridi
Published - 07 Jul 2020, 11:13 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 09:35 AM
Shahid Afridi, the controversial former Pakistani captain, is once again at it. And, this time he has reckoned that Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar will not accept that he ‘used to be scared of Shoaib Akhtar’.
Afridi, who recently claimed that Indian cricketers ‘used to beg for forgiveness after being beaten on multiple occasions by Pakistan, has echoed what his former Shoaib Akhtar had claimed-that Sachin used to be petrified of his fast bowling- in his 2011 autobiography ‘Controversially Yours’.
“Dekhiye Sachin Tendulkar aapne muh se toh nahi kahega ki main dar raha hu. (Sachin obviously won’t say it himself that ‘I’m scared’) There were some spells from Shoaib Akhtar in which not only Sachin but some of the world’s best also got shaken up,” S<!---->h<!---->a<!---->h<!---->i<!---->d<!----> <!---->A<!---->f<!---->r<!---->i<!---->d<!---->i told Zainab Abbas on the latters Youtube channel
“When you are fielding at mid-off or covers, you can see it. You can sense the body language of a player. You can easily understand that a batsman is under pressure, he is not at his usual best. I’m not saying that Shoaib has scared Tendulkar always but there have been some spells from Shoaib that have pushed some of the world’s best including Tendulkar on to the backfoot,” he added.
Sachin Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer for India against Pakistan in ODIs
Afridi even went on to the extent of saying that Sachin used to be scared of a ‘young’ Saeed Ajmal.
“He (Tendulkar) was scared of Shoaib. I have seen it myself. I was fielding at square leg and saw his legs trembling when Shoaib came on to bowl,” Shahid Afridi said.
“During the World Cup, he also looked scared of (young spinner) Saeed Ajmal. It’s not a big deal, players do feel the pressure at times and it becomes difficult,” Afridi added.
Overall, Sachin Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer for his country against Pakistan in white-ball cricket. In 69 ODIs, the little champion 2526 runs at an average of 40.09 which includes 16 half-centuries and five hundred.
