'I told them I am ready to fight' - Shoaib Akhtar's old video stating his intention to attack India in Kargil War goes viral

Shoaib Akhtar (Image credit: Twitter)

The Kargil war, which broke out between the forces of India and Pakistan in May 1999, ended on July 26 with India regaining control of the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir. The two countries have always been bitter rivals and that has the same effect on the cricket field as well. Due to security reasons, the two teams stopped playing each other in bilateral series and now only clash in major world tournaments.

An India-Pak match is always a crowd puller as the animosity between the two teams is heavily reflected on the field as well. Meanwhile, the former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who punished the Indian batters many times with his fiery fast bowling, made a shocking revelation in 2020 that he was going to attack India with the Pakistan Army during the Kargil war. A video in which Akhtar says that he was fully prepared for that and sacrificed crores of rupees for cricket is now circulating on social media.

“People hardly know about this story. I had an INR 1.7 cr contract with Nottingham. Then in 2002, I had another big contract. I left both when Kargil happened,” Akhtar said in an interview with Pakistan’s ARY News.

“I stood on the outskirts of Lahore. A general asked me what I’m doing there. I said war is about to start and we’ll die together. I left the county (cricket) twice like this and the counties were shocked. I wasn’t concerned about that. I called up my friends in Kashmir and told them I am ready to fight,” he added.

Shoaib Akhtar dropped another banger! But what's this statement? Was he not playing the 1999 World Cup that year? pic.twitter.com/bo0bkknzE9

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) March 26, 2023

Akhtar always likes to make controversial statements

Even after retirement, Shoaib Akhtar is always in the news for his controversial remarks. The right-arm pacer recently urged Pakistan skipper Babar Azam to improve his oratory skills to become a global superstar like Virat Kohli. He also claimed that members of the Pakistan national team are struggling to communicate well in English, which had drawn a lot of criticism from fans across the country.

Defending his controversial remarks against Babar, Akhtar next took a dig at former Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Kamran Akmal. Nicknamed the Rawalpindi Expres, Akhtar initially praised Akmal, calling him a match-winner, but later questioned his communication skills.

"Kami is our match winner...he must be listening to this," Shoaib Akhtar said. "He has played really well for Pakistan. Mai sun raha tha, ye bhi keh raha tha sakreen...sakreen ni hota hai, screen hota hai (I heard him speak, he was saying 'sakreen'. It's screen and not sakreen)," Akhtar told ARY News.