I went looking for Harbhajan Singh in hotel room to fight after Asia Cup 2010 game: Shoaib Akhtar

Asia Cup 2010 match between India and Pakistan at Dambulla in Sri Lanka will always hold a special place in Indian cricket fans’ hearts, especially, for the way Men in Blue won that game against their arch-rivals. It was Harbhajan Singh, who steered India to a three-wicket victory with his crucial 11-ball 15-run knock.

The match will be remembered for the epic moments between Tubranator and Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar. It all started when Harbhajan had smacked Akhtar for a six over long-on in the 47th over. Frustrated Akhtar, bowled two bouncers directed at Bhajji’s rib-cage area and also dished a few words at him. The altercation continued till the last over of the game as the Indian spinner didn’t back away from the speedster.

Speaking about the incident on Helo App, Akhtar stated that he wanted to fight with the Indian spinner after the game. He went looking for him in the hotel room but he couldn’t find him. However, he later calmed himself down and a day later, Bhajji had apologized to the paceman.

Harbhajan knew that I was coming: Shoaib Akhtar

“I went looking for Harbhajan Singh in the hotel room to fight with him. He eats with us, roams around with us in Lahore, culture is similar to us, he is a Punjabi brother and yet he will misbehave with us? I thought I will go and fight with him in the hotel room. He knew that Shoaib was coming. But I couldn’t find him. I calmed down the next day and he had also apologised,” said Shoaib Akhtar in a video interview on Helo app.

Coming to that game, Pakistan posted 267 runs after batting for 49.3 overs. Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal smacked fifty-plus scores. Gautam Gambhir’s 83-run knock and MS Dhoni’s half-century kept India in a good position but Men in Blue kept on losing wickets.

Team India needed 7 runs to win in the last over, which was bowled by Mohammad Amir. Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina were on strike, but the team lost the latter’s wicket on the 2nd ball of the last over. When three runs were needed off the last two balls, Bhajji had deposited Amir for a maximum and took India to a special victory.