Shoaib Akhtar recalls his physical altercation with Mohammed Asif during 2007 20-20 World Cup

Former Pakistan seamer Shoaib Akhtar has donated his 2007 20-20 World Cup jersey for a charity event at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham. The fast bowler made the announcement through Twitter and also asked the fans to guess the reason behind him not playing that mega event in 2007.

Akhtar took to Twitter and wrote, “Giving this for @Akhuwat charity in Birmingham at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. This is my jersey from 2007 World T20. But wait, i didn't even play it, i was sent back from that tour for a reason. I was wearing this when that reason happened. Who remembers the reason???”

Giving this for @Akhuwat charity in Birmingham at Edgbaston Cricket Ground.
This is my jersey from 2007 World T20.
But wait, i didn't even play it, i was sent back from that tour for a reason. I was wearing this when that reason happened.
Who remembers the reason??? pic.twitter.com/yAeCuoQ5pS

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) October 2, 2022

A controversy erupted during the 2007 20-20 World Cup when Shoaib Akhtar hit Mohammed Asif with a bat due to which the speedster was called back from South Africa. Akhtar also talked about this incident in his autobiography, Controversially Yours, where he accused Afridi of 'aggravating the situation'.

Last year, Mohammed Asif also made a statement regarding the incident. He said that he called Akhtar and urged him to 'move on' as he had lived off the incident for 13 years.

“He has made so many comments about it and has kept on bringing it up whenever he can. Well, I had enough, so I called him up recently and told him to shut up about the incident and move on from it,” Asif had said.

Following the incident, Akhtar was sent back home as Pakistan Cricket Board had to intervene and make a formal announcement on the unfortunate incident.

Akhtar had previously written about this incident in his autobiography.

“Afridi was aggravating the situation and I swung the bat at both of them. Afridi ducked, but Asif couldn’t get out of the way, the bat struck him on his thighs and he collapsed. I had lost it. I had never behaved like this, especially in the dressing room,” wrote Shoaib.

The PCB disclosed that the initial inquiry and suggested Shoaib using abusive language in addition to him physically assaulting Asif. The excessive aggressive behaviour pushed the board to take stringent action against the ex-speedster.

Moreover, many former Pakistani cricketers had backed the decision maintained by the board and believed there was no room for aggression beyond a certain line.