"Your Career Is Over": When Virender Sehwag Threatened Drunk Shoaib Akhtar Over Sachin Tendulkar Incident
Sehwag opened up about a moment when a drunk Shoaib Akhtar was trying to lift the Master Blaster on his shoulder and miserably failed in his attempt.
"In a party that was held for Indian and Pakistani cricketers in Lucknow, Akhtar had one too many drinks and he tried to lift Tendulkar. However, Tendulkar was quite heavy for him, and both of them ended up falling on the ground. I could not stop laughing at the incident," Sehwag had said at News 18 Chaupal.
The incident left Akhtar extremely embarrassed and Sehwag kept teasing him that his career is over as he could have injured a legend like Sachin. The Pakistan cricket team pacer was scared that Sachin will complain to the BCCI and he decided to ask for forgiveness from the Master Blaster.
"I used to tease him a lot. You are out, your career is over. You have dropped our top player. And he was scared, he kept following Sachin everywhere saying sorry and even fell down at his feet. Still, me and Sachin, whenever we sit together, we go back to the incident and laugh about it," Sehwag said.
Earlier, Akhtar also shared his side of the story during an interaction with SportsKeeda and stated that he was left embarrassed
after the incident.
"I managed to lift him but then he slipped from my hands. Tendulkar fell down, not that badly, but I thought to myself that 'I am dead'. I feared that if Sachin Tendulkar gets unfit or injured, I would never get an Indian Visa. The Indians would never allow me to come back to the country or would burn me alive."
"When he fell down I really thought I am done for life. I remember Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were also there and they were telling me, 'what are you doing man?' And I responded saying 'I don't really know, it just happened.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
3 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
PCB imposes 'blanket ban' on Pakistan's participation in WCL following India's boycott: 'Not only regrettable but...'
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) imposed a blanket ban on Pakistan's participation in the upcoming editions of the World Championship of Legends (WCL). This decision comes following India's decision to boycott the matches against Pakistan, keeping national sentiments in mind. India were slated to square off against the arch-rival in the group stage, but the organisers called off the fixture after social media outrage. Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and others had already pulled out of the contest, and hence the organisers had no choice but to call the contest off. PCB imposes blanket ban on Pakistan's participation in upcoming WCL tournaments. India were then slated to play Pakistan in the semi-final. However, a day before the contest, the side pulled out of the contest, giving their opponents a direct qualification into the final, where they eventually lost against South Africa. On Sunday, the PCB issued an official statement, calling out the organisers of WCL for hypocrisy. The Mohsin Naqvi-headed board stated that they have no choice but to impose a blanket ban, looking at the behaviour of the organisers of WCL. 'The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announces that it is issuing a blanket ban from future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL). The PCB, during its 79th BoG meeting held virtually under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi, reviewed with considerable disappointment WCL's appalling conduct of awarding points to a willfully forfeiting team, and the content of the press releases of the WCL announcing the cancellation of the scheduled India vs. Pakistan legends matches, which were tainted with hypocrisy and bias,' the PCB said in their statement. Also Read: Suresh Raina breaks silence on not taking field against Pakistan in WCL 2025 "The contents of the said press releases highlight a duality where the narrative of 'peace through sport' is selectively applied and sporting events are held hostage to political expediency and narrow commercial interests," the statement added. Pahalgam terror attack Calls have been growing in India for the country to stop all ties with Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, where 26 tourists were killed by terrorists. India then launched Operation Sindoor, attacking terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, the PCB labelled WCL organisers' statement of being 'farcical', alleging that the cancellation of matches between India and Pakistan was not based on 'cricketing merit.' "The WCL's apology for "hurting the sentiments", whilst being farcical, inadvertently acknowledges that the cancellation was not based on cricketing merit, but rather on succumbing to a specific nationalistic narrative. This bias, masquerading as sensitivity, sends an unacceptable message to the international sporting community," the PCB stated. 'In light of this unfortunate development, which underscores a clear and intolerable pattern of external influence and a disregard for the principles of sporting neutrality, the Pakistan Cricket Board is compelled to take a firm stance. The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where the fundamental principles of fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures,' the statement added. The second edition of WCL concluded on Saturday with South Africa defeating Pakistan by nine wickets in the final at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Indian Express
3 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Why Michael Vaughan believes ‘born leader' Harry Brook and not Ollie Pope should succeed Stokes as England captain?
After the shoulder injury-induced departure of England skipper Ben Stokes from the all-important fifth Test of the Anderson-Tenulkar Trophy against India, the home team appears to show cracks under pressure in the leadership of Ollie Pope against a young Indian team. England, who lead the five-match Test series 2-1 ahead of the Oval Test, require 374 runs in the last innings to seal the series. While England would back themselves to chase down the target, having been a successful chasing side in the Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, the prospect of India squaring up the series 2-2 still looms over the home side. And now, the former England captain Michael Vaughan has batted for Harry Brook to lead the side in Stokes' absence in future. 'Harry Brook, to me, looks a leader. He looks a born leader,' Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast. Brook has taken over the captaincy of England in the ODIs after Jos Buttler stepped down from his role after a poor show at the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. 'If Ben Stokes is injured in the future can't Pope stay as vice-captain and Harry Brook gets the leadership role? I look at someone like Ollie Pope, who looks a fantastic vice-captain. He is a brilliant person to have next to the captain to come up with ideas. Sometimes vice-captains aren't brilliant captains,' added Vaughan. Vaughan is considered to be one of the finest brains to have led the English side. England have won 26 of 51 Tests under Vaughan's captaincy between 2003 and 2008, and he has led England to the famous 2005 Ashes win. Vaughan has been a staunch supporter of grooming Brook as future England captain. 'Marcus Trescothick was a magnificent vice-captain for me but you wouldn't want to give him the captaincy.' England are 50/1 and need 324 more runs to win the Test. England are also one batter short after Chris Woakes was ruled out of the remainder of the match as he injured his shoulder while fielding in the first innings. 'It is not Ollie Pope's fault England are in this position. It is the dropped catches. There were a couple of times he nipped off the field. It might have been for a comfort break, but it looked like he was going off for tactical advice. I don't know well enough and am not in the dressing room. I just want the best captain who is the best leader leading the England side. I don't think a good vice-captain will necessarily be a good captain,' said Vaughan. Pope is leading England in a Test for the fifth time.
The Hindu
3 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Pakistan Cricket Board issues ‘blanket ban' on future participation in WCL
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday (August 3, 2025) announced a blanket ban on its players' participation in future editions of the World Championship of Legends (WCL), accusing the tournament organisers of being 'biased' and lacking sporting integrity. The decision follows a sequence of events in which the Indian team forfeited both their group-stage clash and semifinal against Pakistan, citing the country's stand against bilateral sporting ties with the neighbouring country after the gruesome Pahalagam terror attack. 'The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announces that it is issuing a blanket ban from future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL),' the PCB said in a statement after its board of governors meeting held virtually under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi. The PCB also took strong exception to the WCL's decision to award points to India despite the forfeiture, calling it "tainted with hypocrisy and bias." India and Pakistan had been slated to meet in the group stage, but the Indian side — featuring Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, and Harbhajan Singh — refused to play, citing national sentiment following the terror attack and India's subsequent 'Operation Sindoor'. With India also pulling out of the semifinal, Pakistan advanced directly to the final. "The PCB reviewed with considerable disappointment WCL's appalling conduct of awarding points to a willfully forfeiting team, and the content of the press releases of the WCL announcing the cancellation of the scheduled India vs. Pakistan legends matches, which were tainted with hypocrisy and bias." Criticising the tournament's handling of the situation, the PCB said, "The cancellation was not based on cricketing merit but on appeasing a specific nationalistic narrative. This sends an unacceptable message to the international sporting community." The board further stated that it could not allow its players to participate in events where "the spirit of the game is overshadowed by skewed politics that undermine the very essence of sportsmanship and the gentleman's game." The WCL, which is co-owned by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, had earlier issued an apology for "hurting the feelings of many and stirring emotions" following the cancellation of the group stage match. "We sincerely apologise again for hurting the sentiments and hope people will understand that all we ever wanted was to bring a few happy moments to the fans," the WCL had said. The PCB, however, termed the apology "farcical," accusing the organisers of caving to "a specific nationalistic narrative." "The WCL's apology for "hurting the sentiments", whilst being farcical, inadvertently acknowledges that the cancellation was not based on cricketing merit, but rather on succumbing to a specific nationalistic narrative," the PCB said. "This bias, masquerading as sensitivity, sends an unacceptable message to the international sporting community." PCB said it had no choice but to implement the ban. "In light of this unfortunate development, which underscores a clear and intolerable pattern of external influence and a disregard for the principles of sporting neutrality, the Pakistan Cricket Board is compelled to take a firm stance. "The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where the fundamental principles of fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures," it added. Sources in the know of things have indicated that WCL's Indian promoters were already considering dropping the Pakistan team from future editions of the tournament.
