Sachin Tendulkar was scared to face Shoaib Akhtar: Shahid Afridi makes another sensational remark

Afridi has claimed that Tendulkar used to scared of former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar and went on saying that the Mumbai cricketer would never admit the same.

"Dekhiye Sachin Tendulkar aapne muh se toh nahi kahega ki main dar raha hu. (Sachin obviously won't say it himself that he was scared). There were some spells from Shoaib Akhtar in which not only Sachin but some of the world's best also got shaken up," he said.

We've beaten Indian Cricket Team so much that their players used to ask us for forgiveness after defeats: Shahid Afridi

Afridi claimed that not just Tendulkar, even the best of batsmen used to fear Akhtar when the speedster was on song.

"When you are fielding at mid-off or covers, you can see it. You can sense the body language of a player. You can easily understand that a batsman is under pressure, he is not at his usual best. I'm not saying that Shoaib has scared Tendulkar always but there have been some spells from Shoaib that have pushed some of the world's best including Tendulkar on to the backfoot," Afridi told Zainab Abbas when he was asked whether he still stands by his statement made in 2011 that Tendulkar was scared of facing Akhtar.

"He (Tendulkar) was scared of Shoaib. I have seen it myself. I was fielding at square leg and saw his legs trembling when Shoaib came on to bowl," Afridi had said in his book 'Controversially Yours' released in 2011.

Afridi - who was the captain of Pakistan side during the 2011 World Cup - also claimed that at one point in his career, Tendulkar also feared to face Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal.

"During the World Cup, he also looked scared of (young spinner) Saeed Ajmal," Afridi said. "It's not a big deal, players do feel the pressure at times and it becomes difficult."

However, Akhtar seems to have forgotten the fact that Sachin was in the prime of his form between 2007 and 2011. Tendulkar has faced Akhtar in the Test cricket on nine occasions in which the right-handed batsman has scored 416 against the Pakistan side at an average of 41.60. While the Rawalpindi Express could dismiss Tendulkar on 3 occasions during these meetings.

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