"Please finish the game quickly man. It is Friday night"- Shoaib Akhtar recalls how Pakistan used to dominate India
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar claimed that he played during a time when Pakistan used to dominate India across formats.
He recalled an incident during a Test match against India in Bengaluru where he was asking leg-spinner Shahid Afridi to run through the side quickly. This was because they wanted to explore the night life in the city.
Speaking to RevSportz, here's what Shoaib Akhtar had to say about that conversation:
"There were times when we used to be all over India. I remember in a Test match in Bangalore, I told Afridi 'Please finish the game quickly man. It is Friday night in Bangalore. We have to go out too.' That is how confident we were because of our superior pace attack."
He further added:
"Sometimes India doesn't lose because of lack of talent. They lose because of the pressure from their own media. I always tell Indian media that at least care a little about your team and stop mounting pressure on them. When you make us underdogs, the pressure is off us completely as we have nothing to lose."
Shoaib Akhtar on how Indian revenue helps Pakistan
Shoaib Akhtar claimed that whatever revenue India will earn at the World Cup, a part of it will go to the ICC and from there it will come into Pakistan to get the cricket administration better.
On this, he stated:
"This is going to be an amazing World Cup, but I hope it's not the last one because I don't see a future of 50-over cricket. I hope India makes a lot of revenue because a part of that revenue goes to ICC and then it comes to Pakistan and helps our domestic cricket."
Akhtar also reckons Pakistan should travel to India for the World Cup and should try and beat the hosts. He added:
"I really hope Pakistan goes to India for the World Cup. It is India's home crowd with their TV rights and their sponsorship money. Pakistan have no pressure and they can beat India on Indian pitches. Why should they not go to the World Cup? Absolutely they should."
The two arch-rivals will lock horns first in the Asia Cup on September 2 at Kandy.