“Tendulkar closed his eyes”: Mohammad Asif once recalled how Sachin Tendulkar used to close eyes while facing Shoaib Akhtar’s bouncers

Former Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar and former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar had a brilliant rivalry on the field. Both of them were one of the bests in their respective departments and always tried to get over each other. One such occasion was the third Test between Pakistan and India in 2006 in Karachi.

It was the match where Akhtar had admitted that he intentionally wanted to injure Tendulkar with his bouncers. He also said that then-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was trying to stop him from doing that, but he was adamant. Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif once recalled that battle between Akhtar and Tendulkar.

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Despite sharing a rivalry on the field, Akhtar quite a few times admitted that he had a lot of respect for Tendulkar. He once expressed his delight in being with the same team as Tendulkar in the all-star series. Moreover, he had also agreed that taking the wicket of Tendulkar in the 2004 Kolkata Test made him a star.

Mohammad Asif recalled how Sachin Tendulkar closed eyes on Shoaib Akhtar’s bouncers

On the Pakistan TV show ‘The Burgerz’, Asif had recalled how Tendulkar was closing his eyes while facing the bouncers of Akhtar. After two dull draws in Lahore and Faisalabad in the first two Tests, the Karachi pitch had something to offer for the pacers, and Akhtar was all pumped about it.

“When we started bowling, Shoaib Akhtar bowled at express pace in that match. I was standing at square leg near the umpire and I myself saw that Tendulkar closed his eyes while facing one or two bouncers bowled by Shoaib,” Asif had said.

“The Indians were playing on the back foot, and we didn’t allow them to score even 240 in the first innings. We snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.”

Mohammad Asif dominated Karachi Test

Asif was the hero of the Karachi Test for Pakistan, where he scalped seven wickets in the match. It was the same match where Indian pacer Irfan Pathan took a hattrick in the first over of the Test. Pakistan won it by 341 runs in the end and Asif even took the of Tendulkar in the second innings.