Akhtar defends remarks against Tendulkar, refuses to apologise

Former Pakistani player says he will not apologise for speaking the truth.

Shoaib Akhtar has defended his remarks against Sachin Tendulkar made in his book Controversially Yours and says most of his fans support him and only a minority is criticising him.

In an interview with Cricketnext.com, Akhtar said that he had wanted to scare Tendulkar to get him out. He said Tendulkar was not the kind of batsman who gave away his wicket so easily, but on the day he walked away it made him think that the batsman was scared of him.

Akhtar went on to say that he had hit a ball on Tendulkar’s head in the next test match.

“They are your bhagwan, not mine. If bhagwan is hit on the head, there is nothing to be offended about,” said Akhtar.

“This is cricket, sab kuch hota hay.”

The former Pakistani player said on the occasions he had played against India, not once did Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid help their team win the match single handedly.

He said that India was a democracy and nobody was letting him speak.

“Why should I apologise? For speaking the truth? The fans understand what I’m saying,” he said.

Akhtar said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was no one to ask for an apology.

“If you don’t like what I’ve written, don’t buy the book,” said the former fast bowler.

The book was released in New Delhi last week, but its launch in Mumbai on Sunday was cancelled by organisers without any explanation.