Thought I will go and fight with him in the hotel room: Shoaib Akhtar recalls verbal-spat with Harbhajan Singh
The India-Pakistan rivalry in cricket tends to bring up high voltage drama on the field. It was witnessed many a time in past when these two teams clashed against each other. The two arch-rivals always gave their all to pin down each other.
With political tensions between the neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan both meet each other now in big ICC tournaments and Asia Cup. But the players and fans often talked about the memorable moments from the past matches between the two teams.
Recently, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar recalled his on-field spat with veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh in the 2010 Asia Cup match in Dambulla.
Akthar claims that he went looking for Harbhajan Singh in the hotel room after the match but he couldn't find him.
"I went looking for Harbhajan Singh in the hotel room to fight with him. He eats with us, roams around with us in Lahore, culture is similar to us, he is a Punjabi brother and yet he will misbehave with us? I thought I will go and fight with him in the hotel room. He knew that Shoaib was coming. But I couldn’t find him. I calmed down the next day and he had also apologised,” Shoaib said.
Meanwhile, it was a tight match and both teams had an equal chance to steal victory, but it turned into one of the most controversial ones with heated arguments between Gautam Gambhir, Shoaib Akhtar and Kamran Akmal.
The course of the game changed in the 47th over when Akhtar came on to bowl and the Turbanator hit him for a massive six that didn't go down well with the Rawalpindi Express. On the last ball of the 49th over, Akhtar bowled a bouncer to the Indian off-spinner after which the duo got indulged in a war of words.
The drama continued in the last over as well. India needed 2 runs off 3 balls and Mohammad Amir was bowling the match decider. Bhajji swung his bat in full flow to send the ball out of the park and rivals Pakistan out of the tournament.
