'Sunny bhai...They'll hate me in Pakistan,' - Wasim Akram reveals an anecdote about a dismissal involving Sachin Tendulkar

Wasim Akram (Source: Twitter)

Cricket is going through an interesting phase as ODI cricket viewership has been on a decline with crowds not turning up to watch the games. But through all these years India Pakistan games have been a spectacle to watch and the excitement and the fanfare for these games have never failed to die down.

The ODIs and Test matches that have been played over the years between the two Asian countries, have been high-voltage clashes and have gone down to the wire. There have been instances where the pressure of an India-Pakistan game had gotten to the crowds, and it has led to some untoward incidents. Sachin Tendulkar’s run out in the Asian Test Championship in 1998-99 was one such occurrence.

In that Test, Tendulkar was out for a duck in the first innings, In the second innings, the way the master blaster got out became a huge talking point. Tendulkar banged into Shoaib Akhtar who was fielding, and the collusion resulted in Tendulkar getting run out. The fury of the boisterous crowd at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata knew no bounds as they began pelting stones and abusing the Pakistan players as they were not happy with the way things transpired.

It is too late for me to withdraw the appeal: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan Legend Wasim Akram has now given a big revelation in his memoir ‘Sultan’ and has said that India captain Sunil Gavaskar and the match referee had confided in Akram“During the break, I was approached by the match referee with Sunil Gavaskar. 'Wasim, we think you should recall Sachin,' said Sunny. People will love you in India. Sunny knew how partisan the Kolkata crowd could be - he had once refused to play a Test there because he had been so badly barracked the previous time,” Akram said in an excerpt from the book.

“But I had my own fans to worry about. 'Sunny bhai... they might love me in India but they'll hate me in Pakistan,' I said. 'Anyway, it's not my decision. The umpire has given him out. It's too late for me to withdraw the appeal. Play has continue. We all know it's an accident but cricket is full of accidents. It's not up tp the captains to rectify.” Akram had hilariously replied to Gavaskar then.