'I thought I will never get Indian Visa': Shoaib Akhtar reveals an incident with Sachin Tendulkar

The rivalry between India and Pakistan is the most famous in the game of cricket. The match between the two attracts millions of fans around the world, however, this rivalry on the cricket pitch has become a rare event as the two collide during ICC events.

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There was a time these two teams visited the other country for a tour and many Pakistan cricketers revealed, in recent years, about their great experiences in India, one such player is Shoaib Akhtar.

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In a recent interaction with Sportskeeda, the former Pakistan pacer talked about the memorable moments during his time in India. He shared an incident that took place in 2007 which involved Shoaib Akhtar and the Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar,

“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.”

“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,” Akhtar added.