‘I Regretted A Lot’, When Shoaib Akhtar Apologised To MS Dhoni In 2006 | WATCH Video

Shoaib Akhtar said that he had apologised to Mahendra Singh Dhoni for deliberately bowling a beamer during the 2006 Faisalabad Test between Pakistan and India.

In his fifth Test match, Dhoni got 148 runs, which was his first century in the biggest version of the game. The game, which had a lot of goals, ended in a tie.

"I think I bowled somewhere between 8 and 9 overs in Faisalabad. It didn't take long, and Dhoni got a hundred. "I gave Dhoni a beamer on purpose and then apologised to him," Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on an episode of 'AakashVani'.

After Pakistan's first innings, which included centuries from captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (119) and Shahid Afridi (156), they made 588, India responded strongly by scoring 603. Rahul Dravid (103) and Dhoni both got hundreds. Irfan Pathan was 10 runs short of a hundred.

Pakistan's second innings was over when they had 490 runs and 8 wickets left. Both Younis Khan (194) and Mohammad Yousuf (126) had scored tonnes. India only batted for eight overs in their fourth innings before going to Karachi for the third and final Test match.

Akhtar liked what Dhoni did at Iqbal Stadium, where he kept getting hit by the Indian wicketkeeper no matter how fast he bowled.

"It was the first time in my life that I intentionally threw a "beamer." It was wrong of me to do it. I felt very bad about it. He was playing so well, and the wickets were moving so slowly. No matter how fast I threw the ball, he kept hitting it. I think I was angry," Akhtar said.

During his 153-ball innings, Dhoni hit 19 fours and 4 sixes. In his 25-over spell, Akhtar got Sachin Tendulkar out.