Fondly known as the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as the greatest batsman to have played for India.

During his illustrious cricket career, Tendulkar was tested against a number of great fast bowlers and he scored plenty of runs against them.

See Also: Ian Bishop calls Sachin Tendulkar one of the most difficult batsmen he has ever bowled to

Whether it is Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald or speed merchants such as Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, Sachin proved his mettle against everyone on all kinds of surfaces.

However, former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Tuesday (July 7) claimed that Tendulkar was 'scared' to face his compatriot Akhtar in some spells.

"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.

"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,” Afridi told TV anchor Zainab Abbas in a chat.

He went on to add that Tendulkar looked scared to face off-spinner Saeed Ajmal during the 2011 World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.

"During the World Cup, he also looked scared of Saeed Ajmal,” Afridi said. "It’s not a big deal, players do feel the pressure at times and it becomes difficult."

It is not the first time that Shahid Afridi has spoken ill about the great Sachin Tendulkar. In 2011, the ex-Pakistan skipper had claimed that he had seen Tendulkar's legs trembling when Akhtar came to bowl.

"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," he had said.