Secretly used to take pills and injections just to be able to play against India: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pacer and Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar has strolled down memory lane to reveal how he and Saqlain Mushtaq took pills and injections to reduce knee pain to play against their arch-rivals India.

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For the unversed, the India vs Pakistan rivalry used to be at its peak in the 1990s and 2000s, unlike the current one-sided contests. While Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag dominated Akhtar a lot of times, he had his fair share on a few instances as well.

"When Saqlain got over 10 wickets - in Chennai and in Delhi too - Saqlain and I used to bet about Sachin's wickets. He said he would get Sachin out. I said I would get him - that's what I had been doing. I said, 'No, I'll do it this time, it's my turn,'" said Akhtar.

"My knees were swollen as the area was filled with fluid. His knees had gone in 1996, and mine gave way in 1997 in front of him. And both of us secretly used to take pills and injections just to be able to play the match. Had any senior known this, they would have thrown out Saqlain. I was anyway on their target,” he added.

Interestingly, India and Pakistan last played a bilateral series in 2012-13. However, these two sides clash against each other only in the ICC and ACC events due to the ongoing political tensions between the two nations.

Furthermore, Akhtar was disappointed with Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha’s captaincy in the game against England as they suffered a two-wicket defeat in the Super8 clash and are staring down the barrel to get eliminated from the campaign.

“The question I need to ask in three weeks’ time is whether Agha will remain team captain. If you (Pakistan Cricket Board and think tank) had any long-term vision, you wouldn’t have to make this decision three weeks from now. I don’t think he is cut out for this job as a captain. And if you are expecting a miracle from him, or comparing him to someone like Harry Brook—I am so sorry,” Akhtar said on the Game On Hai show.

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