Kamran Akmal reveals when Shoaib Maliks on-field antics irked Sourav Ganguly

Akmal recalled before leaving, Ganguly told Malik, "Tu bohut tez hai, tujhe me chhodunga nahi, tu bahar aa (You are very clever to come outside I will not leave you)."

Sourav Ganguly on the left and Kamran Akmal on the right. (FILE/Screengrab)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Pakistan’s former wicketkeeper batter Kamran Akmal recalled an incident when former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly fell into the trap of mind games and gave his wicket away during the Test series in 2005.

Akmal speaking on the YouTube channel “Nadir Ali podcast” recalled, “In 2005 Mohali Test match, Danish (Kaneria) bowled and Shoaib Malik was at silly mid-on and Salman (Butt) was at silly mid-off. Danish missed the length. Sourav Ganguly was at strike and scored a boundary.”

Talking about the mind games Akmal told, “Shoaib Malik said, ‘Dekha Kamran, kitna pressure hain Dada pe, chakke wala bowl chauka mara. (Did you see Kamran? Seems like Dada is under pressure. That ball should have been hit for a six instead of four)’ Ganguly stepped out of the crease to hit the next ball and he was stumped out.”

Story continues below this ad

He recalled what Ganguly told Malik before leaving and said, “Tu bohut tez hai, tujhe me chhodunga nahi, tu bahar aa” (You are very clever to come outside I will not leave you)

The series ended up in a 1-1 draw after the first Test in Mohali ended up as a draw. India registered a famous victory in Kolkata however, Pakistan in the third Test came back strongly to level the series.

Ganguly was going through a poor run of form in the series. He scored 48 runs from five innings at an average of 9.6. Leg-spinner Kaneria dismissed the left-hander twice in the series.

Virender Sehwag was awarded with the Player Of the Series for scoring 544 runs at an average of 90.67 from six innings.

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.