'Feared if he gets injured, I'd never get Indian visa' - Shoaib Akhtar recalls hilarious incident involving Sachin Tendulkar

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has recounted a fascinating incident involving himself and India’s legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar. The incident took place during Pakistan’s visit to India in the year 2007. In an award function during the tour, the Pakistan pacer tried to lift Tendulkar but then ended up dropping him.

Pakistan had toured India in 2007 for five ODIs and three Test matches in November-December. It is to be noted that it was also the last time the two nations locked horns with each other in a bilateral series. The sides now face each other only in the ICC events owing to the political tension between the two nations.

Recounting the tour, Akhtar asserted some intriguing details of the incident. He reckoned that when Tendulkar slipped from his hands he feared that the batter might have got hurt. He added that if the swashbuckling batter was injured Indians would have never allowed him to enter the country again.

I tried to lift Sachin Tendulkar, just for fun: Shoaib Akhtar

“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 bad, 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 said on Sportskeeda’s official YouTube channel.

The India-Pakistan matches are always highly-anticipated contests. When the arch-rivals lock horns with each other the entire cricketing fraternity is all raring to watch the action unfold. Akhtar pointed that though rivals on the field the players were good friends off the field.

He further opened up on the incident and said, “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 by 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. 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 (jokingly).”