The emotions are always high when India meet Pakistan in any sporting event and we saw a glimpse of it ahead of the cricket World Cup encounter between the two sides at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday. The moment sparked with former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar sharing a post on Twitter, but soon found himself on the receiving end of some brutal social media trolling. (Follow | India vs Pakistan Live Score, World Cup 2023)
Akhtar shared the post on the eve of the high octane encounter between the two sides, in which he can be seen dismissing batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. “Kal agar asa kuch kerna hai, toh #ThandRakh,” he wrote in Hindi, which roughly translates to “keep calm if you want to do something similar tomorrow.”
The archive photo shared by Akhtar was from the Asian Test Championship match, during which the Rawalpindi Express had dismissed Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar in consecutive balls in the first innings. Pakistan had won the match by 46 runs, credit to Saeed Anwar's 188-run knock in the second innings.
While the post didn't go well with the fans, India's 2011 World Cup-winner Munaf Patel also gave a befitting reply to the former Pakistan pacer. Patel shared one of cricket's greatest memory and both Tendulkar and Akhtar being involved in it.
The former India pacer shared a photo from the 2003 World Cup encounter between the two sides and Tendulkar playing the iconic upper cut against Akhtar, which resulted in a maximum. In the post Tendulkar can be seen in his elegant best, while Akhtar is seen vividly frustrated with hands on his head after being whacked for a six.
“Yaad dilao kya (Should I remind you?)” wrote Patel reacting to Akhtar's post.
The India vs Pakistan encounter in the 2003 World Cup took place in Centurion and Tendulkar then produced a match-winning effort of 98 off 75 balls. His effort helped India chase down a challenging 275-run target against the famed bowling attack of Pakistan comprising Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Akhtar himself in 45.4 overs.
{{/usCountry}}The India vs Pakistan encounter in the 2003 World Cup took place in Centurion and Tendulkar then produced a match-winning effort of 98 off 75 balls. His effort helped India chase down a challenging 275-run target against the famed bowling attack of Pakistan comprising Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Akhtar himself in 45.4 overs.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat in the ongoing encounter in Ahmedabad. Pakistan have got off to a decent start but the big news is Shubman Gill returns to the playing XI in place of Ishan Kishan.