Who won in the Sachin Tendulkar vs Shoaib Akhtar rivalry?

Recently, veteran Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said that during a Test match between India and Pakistan in 2006 in Karachi, he intentionally wanted to hit Sachin Tendulkar and injure him.

“I’m revealing this for the first time. I intentionally wanted to hit Sachin during that match. I was determined that I had to injure him at any cost,' Akhtar said in an interview to Sportskeeda.

This is not the first time, Akhtar and Tendukar’s rivalry has cropped up. Once Shahid Afridi had said that Tendulkar was scared to face Akhtar and that he himself saw this.

Does it mean that Tendulkar was not able to dominate Akhtar?

We take a look:

THE STATS

Numbers tell that Tendulkar got the the better of Akhtar, especially in the latter half of his career. 

Tendulkar has scored 416 runs against Akhtar at an average of 41.60 in all formats of the game. In the One Day Internationals (ODIs), Tendulkar has averaged 45 against Akhtar, Scroll reported.

Akhtar has dismissed Tendulkar five times in 19 matches. In Tests, Akhtar got the wicket of Tendulkar on three occasions out of nine matches.

Tendulkar’s best against Akhtar came in 2003 World Cup match in South Africa when Tendulkar smashed 98 runs against Pakistan.

Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag dominated the game as India easily defeated Pakistan in the semi-final chasing the target of 274.

The rivalry between Tendulkar and Akhtar would go down as one of the greatest rivalries in India-Pakistan cricket. In the sub-continent, the fans have always cheered the contest between the two.

In fact, in 1999, when Akhtar got wickets of Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid on consecutive deliveries in Kolkata, he said he was elated. Getting the wicket of Tendulkar was prize wicket for him.

Before the match, he went up to Tendulkar and said, “Do you know me.' To this Sachin replied, “No'. Then Akhtar said, “You will, soon enough,” Akhtar wrote in his biography. 

THE GAME OF AKHTAR

Akhtar is the kind of bowler who was known for injuring batters with his quick deliveries. He has injured players like Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sourav Ganguly and Brett Lee.

On the field, he was an aggressive player who always wanted to decimate the opposition. In his biography Controversially Yours, Akhtar writes, “Frankly, Australians play my kind of game. It’s all about intimidating the opposition and fast bowlers are naturally good at it.”

Akhtar admits that he likes playing an aggressive game.

ALL IS WELL NOW

Years later, the two bond very well. In fact, in 2015, Akhtar was in the same team picked by Tendulkar in a 3-match series played in the US.

Akhtar had then called Tendulkar a brute force. 'Thank God for that, that I am playing for Sachin. I am done bowling against him.  I have been bowling against him for last 15 years and I was not looking bowling to him. Tendulkar is a brutal force and he is the greatest player history has ever seen,” Akhtar said.