Though he himself has not been spared by Shoaib Akhtar in his book and interviews, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi supported the tearaway fast bowler's claims that Sachin Tendulkar was scared of his pace, saying he was a witness to the master batsman trembling at the sight of Shoaib.
In his book ‘Controversially Yours’, Shoaib wrote that Tendulkar was scared of his bowling, a comment that has caused furore across the border, forcing publishers to cancel all launch-related and publicity events.
Asked about Shoaib's claims, Afridi said: "Shoaib is telling the truth. Tendulkar was afraid of him and I saw Tendulkar's legs trembling while facing his bowling."
However, the all-rounder added that it was not an unusual feature of a batsman.
"There are times when every batsman feels the pressure, it happens against Saeed Ajmal even."
The former captain, however, was critical of Akhtar's comments that he was responsible for the fast bowler's omission from the World Cup semi-final against India, according to media reports.
"Shoaib should remember that I apologised to the chairman and manager on his behalf and got him back into the national squad. While he hasn't lied about other things, he won't be able to look me in the eyes after he's said all that," Afridi said.