Akhtar's comments on Tendulkar a 'good ploy'

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has dismissed Shoaib Akhtar’s comments on India’s batting icon Sachin Tendulkar in his new autobiography as a good sell but lacking in credibility.

The Pakistan great says Akhtar lacked the credibility to comment on a batsman of Tendulkar’s stature.

‘Times of India’ reported that Akram simply laughed away (https://bit.ly/rf46Qw) at suggestions in Akhtar’s new autobiography ‘Controversially Yours’ that Tendulkar was ‘scared’ of his short-pitched stuff.

Akram made these comment while attending the India International Sports Summit. Tendulkar has refused to be drawn into this controversy which has left a bad taste in cricketing relations between the south Asian giants.

“I don’t think he (Shoaib) even qualifies to make any comment on Sachin Tendulkar,” said Akram, adding that the whole issue was a good marketing strategy to sell his book.

“It is like an unwritten code of conduct that a sportsman shouldn’t be writing anything against another sportsman. But since Akhtar has done so, I can only say that it is nothing but a good ploy to sell his book,” Akram said.

Akhtar claims in his book that Tendulkar chickened out during the Faisalabad Test on a very slow track.

Akhtar wrote: “I bowled (Sachin) a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn’t even touch. He walked away! That was the first time I saw him walk away from me - that, too, on the slow track at Faisalabad.”

Akram, however, said he himself had bowled to Tendulkar when the batsman made his debut, and came away impressed, the report added.
 

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