Shoaib Akhtar was heard saying he wanted to “hurt” Sachin Tendulkar by bowling in a way to cause him life life-threatening injury with the video of him talking about the bouncers viral
On Sunday, September 10, a video of Shoaib Akhtar discussing his deliberate attempt to gravely hurt former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar became widely shared on social media.
Shoaib Akhtar reveals he deliberately tried to injure Sachin Tendulkar by bowling bouncers at his head, video goes viral
The ex-Pakistani bowler admitted to engaging in “unsportsmanlike behaviour.” The player revealed:
I want to reveal this today that I really wanted to injure Sachin in that match…I was determined to hurt Sachin at any cost in that match…And I kept at it although Inzamam-ul-Haq asked to bowl in front of the wickets.”
He further continued, without displaying any outward look of regret:
So I deliberately hit on his helmet and even thought that he (Sachin) would be dead…I saw the replay and found that the ball hit on his forehead…I then tried to injure him again.”
What if @shoaib100mph wanted to k!ll @sachin_rt with bouncers aiming his head? Let's play cricket @BCCI. Cricket is beyond boundaries for Indians.pic.twitter.com/rkQ2S7mlvf
— Pakistan Untold (@pakistan_untold) September 10, 2023
Shoaib Akhtar was referring to the infamous third Test, which was contested between Pakistan and India in 2006 at the National Stadium. During an interview with Sportskeeda in June 2022, he made the disputed assertions. A video of the interview has now gained popularity on social media.
Not the first time that he wanted to hurt an Indian cricketer
It was not the first time that Shoaib Akhtar wanted to hurt any Indian cricketer. The former Pakistani bowler had previously admitted to intentionally injuring Indian cricket players during a match. Shoaib Akhtar acknowledged in an interview with Sports Tak in October 2021 that he purposefully delivered a “deadly beamer” to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the 2006 Faisalabad Test match between India and Pakistan. He revealed:
I had made the same mistake with Dhoni in Faisalabad. I had thrown a beamer at him intentionally. Dhoni is such a nice guy and I respect him. I felt very bad about it. Yes, he is a good player who hit me for a few runs. Why did I decide to attack him (with a beamer)? If the ball would have hit Dhoni, he would have been grievously hurt (do-teen-paanch) in 2005 itself.”
The fact that beamer bowling is forbidden during a cricket game must be highlighted. The ball is thrown high by the bowler in the aforementioned delivery and does not bounce. One of the possible outcomes of such a delivery is that a batter would get devastating head and facial damage.
Shoaik Akhtar purposefully delivered a beamer while being fully aware of the potential repercussions, unlike the majority of such beamers that are delivered by mistake. The bowler is given a warning by the umpire and a no-ball is awarded.