T20 World Cup: Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh were involved in some friendly banter after India’s defeat to Pakistan in their Super 12 match.
Shoaib Akhtar is known to be good friends with plenty of Indian cricketers and in particular with spinner Harbhajan Singh. Both of them met on the field during India vs Pakistan matches in the past and formed a friendship. So, when Pakistan cruised past India in their T20 World Cup opener on Sunday, the friendly banter began between the duo on social media. Taking to Twitter, Akhtar posted an old video with Harbhajan, which was taken before the Indo-Pak match. In the video, the former Pakistan pacer can be seen joking with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) cricketer that he would call him on October 24 and apologize “for breaking the hearts of 1.5 billion people”.
“On the night of 24th, I will call you. I will tell you “Bhajji, I am sorry for breaking the hearts of 1.5 billion people””, Akhtar said.
The former Pakistan cricketer captioned the video as, “My dear friend Baji just pulling your legs”.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan responded to Akhtar and said that things could change soon and he could be on the receiving end. “Bandha ban ja.. time badalte time nahi laggega. You will soon be on receiving end”, he tweeted.
Chasing a target of 152, Pakistan raced to 152 for no loss in 17.5 overs with openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam remaining unbeaten.
Rizwan smashed 79 runs off 55 balls and his captain played a knock of 68 in 52 deliveries.
Earlier, India posted 151 for seven in 20 overs with captain Virat Kohli registering a half-century (57 off 49 balls). Rishabh Pant also made a noteworthy contribution with a knock of 39 runs off 30 balls.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was in excellent form and took three wickets against India in four overs and was adjudged player of the match.