"People will kill you. Who told you to dismiss Sachin? That too in Mumbai?" - Shoaib Akhtar shares hilarious story from IPL 2008
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has always had a huge fan-following in India because of the passion with which he played his cricket. However, there were times when he had to face the wrath of Indian fans for dismissing some of the great batters the country has produced.
One such incident took place during the IPL 2008 season when Shoaib Akhtar was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). They took on the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Akhtar got their star Sachin Tendulkar dismissed in the very first over.
While speaking to Sportskeeda on the show 'SK Tales', Akhtar revealed how the-then KKR captain Sourav Ganguly had to change his field placement as the speedster was getting a lot of stick from the Mumbai crowd. He said:
"It was a beautiful ground and a fantastic atmosphere. Stadium was fully packed. But I dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in the first over itself and that was a huge mistake. Then I got a lot of abuses when I was at fine leg. Sourav Ganguly told me, 'Come to mid-wicket, these people will kill you. Who told you to dismiss Sachin? That too in Mumbai?'"
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I wish I played more games at Wankhede: Shoaib Akhtar
The vibrant atmosphere of the Wankhede Stadium left a mark on Akhtar's mind. He admired the passion with which the Mumbai crowd backed their IPL team and was touched with the love the city gave him when he worked there after hanging up his boots. He stated:
"I worked a lot in Mumbai and got lots of love. I was happy because at Wankhede no one abused my country, no one passed any racist comments. The crowd at Wankhede was very passionte. I wish I played more games there."
Akhtar featured in just three IPL games for KKR, in which he picked up five wickets. His best performance came against the Delhi Daredevils, where his memorable 4-fer gave KKR a famous win.