Batting great Sachin Tendulkar dominated pacers from across the globe. There have been rare occasions when he lost his battle against fast bowlers. Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar during a chat with Sportskeeda recalled one such incident, which took place during India’s tour to Pakistan in 2006.
During the third Test in Karachi, Akhtar wanted to hurt Sachin and not dismiss him.
“I am revealing this for the first time. I wanted to hit Sachin Tendulkar. I was determined to wound Sachin at any cost. Inzamam wanted me to bowl in front of the wickets, but I was looking to hit the Indian batter. I hit him on his helmet and I thought he was done. However, when I watched the video, I saw Sachin managed to save his head,” he said.
Akhtar further admitted that his efforts to hurt Sachin continued. However, it was Mohammad Asif who troubled the visitors with his fine bowling.
It was the same game when Irfan Pathan had claimed the famous hat-trick, dismissing Salman Butt, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf in the first over. However, India lost the Test match by 341 runs, which resulted in a series defeat by a margin of 0-1.