The encounters between India and Pakistan always produce interesting incidents. It goes without saying that a few more stories will be added to the mythology when the Indian cricket team, captained by Rohit Sharma, takes on Pakistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup on October 15. Although the players on the two sides generally get along, there have been some instances where things have gotten out of hand. Both parties have frequently engaged in mind games, which have led to some interesting incidents. Rana Naved Ul Hasan, a former Pakistani bowler, recalled one such instance involving Virender Sehwag.

Rana Naved Ul Hasan said on Nadir Ali Podcast. “I will tell you an incident. There was a match where Sehwag was playing on 85. I am talking about the 2004-05 series which we won going there. I was the player of the tournament. The series was such that we were trailing 2-0. It was a best-five series. In the third match of the series, Sehwag was hitting big. They almost scored 300 and Sehwag was nearing 85. I asked Inzy bhai to give me the ball. I bowled a slow bouncer.”

“I went up to him and said ‘You don’t know how to play. Had you been in Pakistan, I don’t think you would have ever made it to the international team. He said a few things back to me. On my way back I told Inzi bhai… ‘Next ball, he is getting out’. He was surprised. I bowled a back-of-the-hand slower ball, and an infuriated Sehwag tried to hit it big but holed out. The wicket was so important that we won that match. These are certain tricks of the fast bowler.”

But there are some factual inconsistencies in Naved’s assertion. Naved won the series with 15 kills, but there were six matches overall rather than five. After dropping the first two games, Pakistan won the series 4-2 overall. However, Naved is likely referring to India’s victory in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam. Sehwag was out of the game after 40 balls while batting on 74. However, Pakistan fell short by 58 runs in that match.