Shoaib Akhtar recalls Sachin Tendulkar’s first-ball duck dismissal in 1999 Kolkata Test – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar revealed how Wasim Akram’s perfect advice helped him scalp Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket for a first-ball duck during the famous Kolkata Test back in 1999.

After dismissing Rahul Dravid, Akhtar followed it with another brilliant delivery to pick the priced wicket of Tendulkar. The fast bowler said that Akram had advised him to bowl reverse swing to Master Blaster which eventually worked in the visitors’ favour.

“When Sachin was getting ready to take strike, Wasim Akram advised me to bowl reverse swing. He told me to ensure that the ball ends up in line with the stumps after pitching. Initially, I was very anxious about getting him out. But when I started running in, I was completely focused as I wanted to get my run-up completely right – whether it was my jump or my bowling action,” he said in a conversation with Sportskeeda.

“The moment Sachin lifted his bat, I knew he was out. His backlift was really high and I knew the ball was reverse-swinging a lot. I wasn’t surprised with the result since I had planned the delivery.”

The Pakistan speedster further added that there was a pindrop silence in the ground after Tendulkar’s departure.

“There was pin drop silence in the ground after Sachin’s dismissal,” he said.

The home side ended up getting 223 in reply to Pakistan’s 185 in the first innings. The visiting team then rode on Saeed Anwar’s 188 to post 316 and hand India a target of 279 runs. The hosts were bowled out for 232 and lost the match by 46 runs.

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