The 2022 Asia Cup sees a blockbuster clash on Sunday night as arch-rivals India and Pakistan meet in Dubai. Both sides had last met in the T20 World Cup last year where the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team registered a one-sided victory, beating India by 10 wickets. The games between both sides draw massive fanfare from both nations due to lack of bilateral series, owing to political tensions. Justifiably, even former cricketers from India and Pakistan actively recall their favourite memories from the encounters between both sides whenever they meet now.
During one such interaction, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and India's star ex-spinner Harbhajan Singh revisited some memories from their games, and Afridi talked about the 2005 ODI where he had famously scored 102 off just 45 deliveries. The six-match series was poised at 2-2 and thanks to Afridi's explosive knock, Pakistan took an unassailable lead in Kanpur.
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The former Pakistan all-rounder, who had opened in that game, has now revealed that Harbhajan came to him a day before the match and hilariously asked him to be gentle against him!
“A day before the match, Bhajji came to me and said, 'Lala, dekh khyaal karna hai tune kal (Lala, be gentle!)'. In the game, I was on 96 and Bhajji was bowling. I had slightly pushed the delivery and it went for a four. Bhajji then stared at me and I said, 'Sorry sorry'. Then I tried to defend the ball, and it instead came into the wicket and I was bowled,” Afridi said, prompting laughter from Harbhajan.
{{/usCountry}}“A day before the match, Bhajji came to me and said, 'Lala, dekh khyaal karna hai tune kal (Lala, be gentle!)'. In the game, I was on 96 and Bhajji was bowling. I had slightly pushed the delivery and it went for a four. Bhajji then stared at me and I said, 'Sorry sorry'. Then I tried to defend the ball, and it instead came into the wicket and I was bowled,” Afridi said, prompting laughter from Harbhajan.
{{/usCountry}}"And then I looked at Bhajji and I was like, "Chhakke waali ball maine rok diya dekho (I defended a ball that should have gone for a six)," Afridi further said.
Harbhajan also added that Afridi hardly took a single or a double in that innings. The former Pakistan star smashed 10 fours and nine sixes en route the 102-run knock – scoring 94 runs only in boundaries!