'Intentionally wanted to hit Sachin': Shoaib Akhtar recalls his fiery spell vs Tendulkar in 2006 Karachi Test

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar recently revealed he intentionally wanted to hit Sachin Tendulkar during the Karachi Test between India and Pakistan in 2006. It was a memorable encounter between the two arch-rivals at the National Stadium in Karachi where Akhtar breathed fire with the ball against the Indian batters. Recalling the game, Akhtar said he was determined to wound Tendulkar at any cost during the match.

One of the fastest bowlers to have graced the game, Akhtar used to be a nightmare to face for the best of bowlers during his playing days. Famously known as the Rawalpindi express for his raw pace, Akhtar enjoyed some intense duels with Tendulkar on the field and Karachi Test was one of those.

Recalling the Test match, Akhtar said his intention was to hit Tendulkar and he even managed to rock his helmet with one of the deliveries which he thought would be enough to stop the Master Blaster, however, the batting legend managed to survive and batted well.

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"I'm revealing this for the first time. I intentionally wanted to hit Sachin in that Test match. I was determined that I had to wound Sachin in that Test at any cost. Inzamam kept saying that bowl in front of the wickets, but I wanted to hit Sachin. So, I hit him on his helmet, and I felt he was done. But when I watched the video, I saw Sachin had managed to save his head," Akhtar said on Sportskeeda.

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Akhtar then went on to reveal that he tried to injure Tendulkar once again after the batting maestro got away despite being hit on the helmet. The former Pakistan pacer also praised Mohammad Asif, who bowled exceedingly well in the game and troubled the Indian batters continuously.

"I again tried to injure him. But on the other hand, Indian batting was facing music in the shape of Asif. I had rarely seen anyone bowl as well as the way Asif bowled on that particular day," Akhtar added.

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The match is famously known for Irfan Pathan's stunning hat-trick in the very first over of Pakistan's first innings. Irfan claimed a hat-trick in the first over to help India bundle out the hosts for 245 runs in their first innings.

However, India could manage only 238 runs in reply before Pakistan scored a mammoth 599 runs in their second innings and won the game comfortably by 341 runs. Asif was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with seven wickets across the two innings.