When it comes to cricket, the rivalry between India and Pakistan has been one of the most intense rivalries in the sports world. Ahead of every match between these arch-rivals is humungous. Not just the cricketers, but also the fans around the world look up to this, high-octane affair. Their on-field interactions are always filled with thrill and excitement.
However, there is a bitter side as well. Recently, Vijay Shankar, the Indian all-rounder, who was touted as a three-dimensional cricketer before the 2009 World Cup, revealed an incident that took place a day before India-Pakistan’s World Cup match.
Vijay Shankar revealed how he and a fellow teammate found themselves at the receiving end of a fan’s anger. Vijay recalled how a fan tried to annoy both the cricketers and also had his camera on. Talking on the Bharat Army podcast, Vijay said:
“So one day before the game, they told me, be prepared, you’ll be playing. And I was like, ‘OK,’”
He added:
“Few of us players had gone out for coffee one day before the game, when a Pakistan fan came up to us and he was literally abusing us. So that was my first experience of an India-Pakistan game. “We just had to take it. He was abusing us and recording everything, so we couldn’t react. All we could do was sit and watch what he was doing,”
Interestingly, Vijay Shankar started his World Cup tournament playing against Pakistan and he ended up earning a wicket on their very first delivery he bowled in the tournament. During the match, Rohit Sharma played an amazing knock of 140 runs to guide team India to a strong total of 336/5. KL Rahul and captain Virat Kohli also gave brilliant performances by scoring 57 and 77 runs respectively.
