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Cricket Players'Had Sehwag said this to my face...': Akhtar fumes at journalist over 'Baap baap hota hai' query - Watch
Denying that Sehwag had ever made ‘Baap baap hota he' statement, Akhtar was left fuming at the journalist for repeating the same question and trying to provoke him through these incidents.
Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar was on Sunday left furious during a pre-show discussion with an Indian journalist before the start of the blockbuster Asia Cup 2022 game between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. Akhtar was queried on the famous ‘Baap baap hota he’ remark which former India cricketer Virender Sehwag had made during one of the India-Pakistan matches. Denying that Sehwag had ever made any such statement, Akhtar was left fuming at the journalist for repeating the same question and trying to provoke him through these incidents.
Sehwag, in an interview back in 2010, had admitted that he did make this statement after Sachin Tendulkar had smashed Akhtar for a six during one of the India-Pakistan matches. The journalist, reminding the Pakistan legend if the same, asked him to recall a similar incident which he has never spoken of before.
Akhtar revealed that he had once asked Sehwag whether he had made this statement and the India great had denied it. He further admitted that he did not like the question and rather urged the journalist to focus on cricket rather than talk about such incidents. Here is how the conversation unfolded…
Journalist: Woh toh pata hain hume ki Viru ne aapko kaha tha ki 'Baap baap hota he, aur beta, beta'. Uske ilava aise kuch incident jo kisiko na pata ho aur aap aaj bara exposé karte hai? (We know that Sehwag had made that ‘baap baap hota hai’ comment but can you share anu other incident related to India-Pakistan match?)
Shoaib Akhtar: First thing, agar yeh cheez usne mere muh pe boli hoti toh woh bachta nahi. Mujhe nahi pata usne kab kaha yeh aur kis waqt kaha. In fact ,maine khud usse ekbar pucha tha ki aise koi statement di hai ki nahi. Usne seedha bola ‘nahi’. Dusra baat yeh hai, aap jo program kijiye, aap zarur baatein kijiye, bara khusi ka mauka he but kaam qabil e izzat ho. Main sabka izzat karta hu, aap logon ki izzat karta hu. Bohut badi fan following hai India mein. Aur main humesha koshis karta hu ki aise baat na karu jisme do mulk ke beech zyada faasle badhe. And I'm not liking this one bit. I'm being very honest with you. Usne yeh kaha, usne yeh kaha. Let's come back to cricket. Bohot si ache baat kar sakte hai. I request you. Jis tarah yeh program hota he woh ache nehi lagta mujhe, wohi cheez baar baar repeat karna. (If he had said this to my face then it would have been very difficult for him. I donn't know when and where he said this. I had even asked him once in Bangladesh whether he said this or not then he had denied it. Secondly, we should celebrate this occasions and talk about cricket rather than doing these. I respect India a lot, I respect you too and I never say such things which may create differences between the two countries.)
This isn't the first time Akhtar has denied that Sehwag ever made that statement. Two year back, in an interview on Pakistani news channel ARY News, the veteran cricketer had responded in a similar manner saying, "Would he survive after saying something like that to me? Would I leave him? I would beat him up at the ground and then at the hotel. The story has been made up."
