Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar feared getting his Indian Visa cancelled when he ended up dropping Sachin Tendulkar after lifting him. The incident happened during Pakistan’s 2007 tour to India.
Akhtar had tried to lift Tendulkar for fun at an awards function during the tour which didn't go well. Speaking on the incident in interaction with Sportskeeda, the ex-Pakistan cricketer said he thought there won't be another India visit for him again.
“After Pakistan, if there is one country where I have received a lot of love, it is India. I have a lot of good memories from my visits to India. During the 2007 tour, there was an awards function. So obviously, there was a get-together after the function. 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 badly, 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.”
ALSO READ: Shoaib Akhtar announces himself as the Peace Ambassador for Kashmir Premier League
After being worried if Tendulkar is fine or not, Akhar went to the India cricketer and hugged him. He knew the media won't be easy on him if he had done any damage to one of India's most loved cricketers.
“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 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).”
Pakistan toured India for five ODIs and three Test matches in November-December 2007. They had lost the ODI series by 3-2 and the Test series by 1-0 eventually. Tendulkar was the third-highest run-scorer in the five-match ODI series.
Akhtar also opened up on his habit of playing pranks with Indian cricketers. He had even injured his ex-Pakistan teammate Shahid Afridi's neck in a prank.
“Yuvraj is my buddy. I once jumped on his back. Bhajji is a witness to that. I pressed Shahid Afridi’s neck, he got hurt and was ruled out. So these are the instances I remember. It’s not a great joke but I just did it for fun and sometimes injuries happened," he said.
(With Sportskeeda Inputs)
