Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan’s fast-bowling legend Shoaib Akhtar have had some of the best times on the field against each other, whether it be about the game or a tussle between them.
Like the India-Pakistan rivalry on the field, there are numerous interesting stories and face-off episodes between Tendulkar and Akhtar on the cricket field, and now the former Pakistan bowler has recently revealed a story when the Indian legend called him for dinner.
He recalled how Tendulkar once told him that pacey deliveries had broken the Indian batting legend’s ribs during Pakistan's tour of India in 2007, and the extent of the damage was so great that the Master Blaster had trouble breathing.
However, Tendulkar showed excellent grit and determination to continue playing, instead of retiring hurt, during the ODI series against Pakistan back in 2007.
Akhtar said in a video shared by sports presenter Shonali Nagrani on her Instagram handle: “It always feels good sharing stories. Like I and Sachin… Sachin is a very good cook. He once told me I want to cook something for you so you come over sometime. So I went to his million-dollar home and we ate and we then shared stories. He told me ‘In Guwahati, one of your deliveries hit me and it broke my ribs’.”
The former fiery pacer added, “Sachin then said ‘I didn’t tell it to anybody. Sourav kept telling me… ‘Sachin keep at it. Do not move. But I couldn’t say anything because I could not breathe.’ He told me he spent the night in the hospital. When I asked him why he didn’t tell me, he said ‘if I were to tell you, wouldn’t I have received a few more lethal balls from you’.”
Tendulkar had himself spoken about the incident during a session on Unacademy.
He had said: “I got hit in my rib cage in 2007. We were playing Pakistan in India and in the first over itself I got hit in the rib cage off a Shoaib Akhtar ball. It was quite painful. For a month and a half or two months, I was not able to cough or sleep on my tummy. But I continued playing like that and had designed my own chest guard. I played the remaining four ODIs and the Test series.”
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