“I was determined that I had to wound Sachin”: When Shoaib Akhtar admitted that he intentionally wanted to hurt Sachin Tendulkar in IND vs PAK 2006 Karachi Test

Shoaib Akhtar and Sachin Tendulkar were two of the best in their businesses, and they had a brilliant rivalry where both of them always tried to get on top of each other. India and Pakistan used to play a lot of matches back then, and Sachin & Akhtar used to produce some great battles.

Tendulkar’s six-over point against Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup match is still fresh in every cricket fan’s heart. Akhtar once said that, after Allah, Tendulkar played the biggest part in making him a superstar as he dismissed Tendulkar for a golden duck in the 1999 Kolkata Test.

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The Test series between India and Pakistan in 2006 was dominated by the batters, and the initial two Tests ended in dull draws. In the 3rd Test, it was an interesting affair between both sides. However, Akhtar once revealed his ugly plans to rattle Tendulkar in the Karachi Test.

When Shoaib Akhtar admitted that he intentionally wanted to hurt Sachin Tendulkar

Shoaib Akhtar had once said that he intentionally wanted to hit Tendulkar in the Karachi Test. He revealed that he was determined to injure Tendulkar, one of his balls smashed Tendulkar’s helmet, but the Master Blaster managed to save his head somehow. The Rawalpindi Express told how Inzamam-ul-Haq was asking him to bowl in front, but he was trying to hit Tendulkar’s head.

“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,” Shoaib Akhtar said to SportsKeeda.

“Inzamam kept telling 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 kept attacking, but Mohammad Asif was Pakistan’s hero in that match, who took a total of 7 wickets. Pakistan won the match by 341 runs in the end to seal the series. It was the same match where Irfan Pathan took a hat-trick in the very first over of the match. Tendulkar was dismissed by Abdul Razzaq in the 1st innings (23 runs) and Mohammad Asif in the 2nd (26 runs).