Akhtar said he was dedicated to get rid of Sachin Tendulkar back in 1999.
In the rivalry between India and Pakistan, there used to be small contests between players personally. One of such was between India batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar.
While there were occasions when Sachin smashed Akhtar, the Pakistan speedster had also got him out several times. The clash between them caught fire after a time and fans loved it.
Akhtar recalled his first clash with Sachin back in 1999. The 44-year-old admitted he was in his own attitude and wanted to dismiss Tendulkar on the very first delivery.
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While Shoaib was starting his career, Sachin already had a huge fan following. He was called the 'God of Cricket' and Akhtar wanted to make a statement by picking his wicket.
“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.
Akhtar shattered Sachin's stumps on the first delivery in the Kolkata Test. He later dismissed VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad in his maiden Test against India. His figures after the first innings were 4/71 and he picked another four-wicket haul in next innings which resulted in Pakistan's win by 46 runs.