Pakistan legend Wasim Akram recalled one of his horrific experiences of his life which he had to go through at Chennai Airport in 2009.
New Delhi: Pakistan legend Wasim Akram recalled one of his horrific experiences of his life which he had to go through at Chennai Airport in 2009.
In an interaction with Sportstar, Akram revealed that his ex-wife, Huma Akram who passed away in October 2009 said that she fell unconscious at Chennai airport and how the airport officials helped them to sort their visa issues.
“I was flying to Singapore with my late wife and there was a stop in Chennai for refuelling. When landed, she was unconscious, I was crying and people recognised me at the airport. We didn’t have an Indian visa. We both had Pakistani passports,” Akram told during a discussion on his autobiography Sultan: A Memoir.
Akram added that he will never forget this incident as cricketer and also a human being.
“The people at the Chennai airport, the security forces, and the customs and immigration officials told me not to worry about the visa and take my wife to the hospital while they sort the visa out. That is something I will never forget, as a cricketer and as a human being,” he revealed.
Just few days later after the incident, Huma passed away at Chennai’s Apollo hospital following a cardiac arrest.
He also talked about the 1999 Chennai Test in which Pakistan emerged victorious by 12 runs.
“The Chennai Test is very special to me… It was very hot and the pitch was bare, which suited us because we relied on reverse-swing. We also had one of the best spinners at the time in Saqlain Mushtaq. Nobody could pick the doosra delivery that he had invented at the time”, he told.
“Sachin (Tendulkar) played him well after the first innings. Every time he bowled the doosra, Sachin went for the lap shot just behind the ‘keeper. A very odd shot to play against the off-spinners doosra but he mastered it and that’s why Sachin was one of the greatest of all time,” he said.
