Kamran Akmal recalls his on-field verbal clash with Ishant Sharma

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 25 (ANI): Former Pakistani wicket-keeping batter Kamran Akmal has finally opened up about his on-field spat with Ishant Sharma during India vs Pakistan match at Chinnaswamy Stadium in December 2012. Akmal claimed that it was Ishant who initially started abusing him and, as a result, he got it back.

He then went on to reveal that it was Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni who came in to settle the matter calmly. As quoted by cricket pundit Farid Khan, Akmal said: “Ishant Sharma did hurl abuse, he got all the abuses back too (Ishant ne gaali diya par baad mein usko bhi bohot pada). MS Dhoni was really nice and Suresh Raina came and settled it down. India were losing and it happened in the heat of the moment. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez played very well, so he was furious.”

This is not the only incident the former Pakistani batter has shared recently. During his interaction on the YouTube channel ‘Nadir Ali Podcast’, he was asked to recall a similar incident. In 2009 Akmal and Gautam Gambhir were caught in an on-field verbal feud.

“It was a complete misunderstanding. It was an Asia Cup match in 2009. Saeed Ajmal bowled, there was an appeal for caught-behind from me. It was given not out. Gambhir said something in a hilarious way, but because of the hype around the India-Pakistan matches…he did not say any cuss words. If I am not wrong, he said that to himself, but I felt it was directed towards me,” he said.

Akmal later clarified that it was due to a misunderstanding. If it wasn’t for Dhoni and the intervention of the on-field umpires a single misunderstanding would have certainly made things go bad from worse. India and Pakistan share a long history of on-field fights and these two moments are some of the most memorable moments.