‘Ishant said one bad word, I returned 20. MS Dhoni interfered, otherwise…’ | Cricket

Over the past few years, the cricket encounters between India and Pakistan have been confined to continental (Asia Cup) and ICC tournaments, owing to political tensions between both nations. In fact, the sides haven’t met in a bilateral series since 2012-13, when Pakistan had toured India for white-ball matches. The clashes between India and Pakistan have consistently delivered electrifying encounters and in the backdrop of this intense rivalry, the last bilateral series etched its mark not only for competitive gameplay but also for a heated exchange between Kamran Akmal and Ishant Sharma.

The fiery incident had taken place during a T20I game in Bengaluru, and added further drama to the memorable 2012 series. In a big revelation, Akmal asserted that the verbal altercation was sparked by Ishant’s initial provocations, prompting him to respond fiercely. Further shedding light on the incident, Akmal disclosed that it was Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni who intervened to defuse the situation.

Akmal remembered the altercation during a podcast with Roha Nadym for Cricwick. “Ishant abused me. He said one bad word, in return he received 20. I’m honest here. We had our flight to Ahmedabad next day, there was a T20I match. I, Virat (Kohli), Shoaib Malik, Hafeez were sitting. Somebody asked, what exactly happened between you two. Ishant said after bowling, I just said a bad word to him. Everybody said, you deserved it coming!” said Akmal.

“It turned out to be serious. But thankfully, Dhoni, the captain cool, then Raina also interfered. They knew who was at fault, so they settled the situation, otherwise it would’ve been worse. I could’ve been banned for two matches, penalized for 5 match fees. It was pretty serious,” said the former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter further.

Pakistan had won the ODI series 2-1 and the two-match T20 series ended in a draw, with both sides sharing the spoils. This year, the cricket fans are in for a double dose of India-Pakistan clashes as the two sides meet in the Asia Cup group stage before clashing at the ODI World Cup on October 14. The Asia Cup could potentially see three India-Pakistan games, given both sides clear group stages and finish in top-2 of the Super Fours.

The World Cup will also see a Pakistan men’s team travelling to India for the first time since 2016, when a Shahid Afridi-led side had played in the country during the T20 World Cup.