The bilateral series between India and Pakistan has not been played in a long time. Political relations between these neighboring countries are not common, which is why these two teams face off on the cricket field only when there is an ICC program. India and Pakistan last met in the 2019 World Cup and the two teams will compete in this year’s T20 World Cup. In 2007, the Pakistan cricket team toured India, where a series of five ODIs and three Test matches were played between the two teams. Shoaib Akhtar, the former fast bowler of Pakistan, told a funny story about the tour. During this tour, Shoaib went to the Akhtar Awards where he had fun with Sachin Tendulkar. Akhtar, in an interview with SportsKeeda, said:
Akhtar said, ‘After Pakistan, if there is any country where I have so much love, it is India. There are some good memories of visiting India. There was an awards ceremony in 2007, so we joined together after the ceremony. As usual I want to do something different. So I gladly picked Sachin Tendulkar. I picked them up anyway, but they slid out of my hand again. Tendulkar fell down, not so bad, but thought I was going to die. If Sachin was injured or disqualified for the match, I was afraid I would never get an Indian visa. Indians will never allow me to enter their country or burn me alive. ‘
Shoaib Akhtar still holds the record for fastest bowling in international cricket. Akhtar has played 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20 Internationals for Pakistan. Akhtar’s account includes 178 Tests, 247 ODIs and 19 T20 international wickets.
