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It was in 2010 Asia Cup, when Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar paid the price for sledging India's Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan, who came in to bat at no.8 in the tricky run chase got the boost he needed after the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ had a few words for him. The ‘Turbanator’ answered to Akhtar's words with a six to finish off the match on the penultimate ball of the game. While the two were involved in heated exchange on the field, they often engage in friendly banter off the field. Ahead of much-awaited India-Pakistan clash on October 24, the duo engaged in online banter via Twitter.
“With Mr. I know it all @harbhajan_singh in Dubai for a pre-discussion about the mother of all competitions,” Akhtar tweeted with a photo.
Harbhajan was quick to respond as he tweeted, “When u have 400 plus test wickets am sure you know more about cricket then someone with less then 200 wickets (sic)”.
The off-spinner in his 103-match long Test career took 417 wickets whereas Akhtar has 178 wickets under his belt in 46 Tests in a career marred by injuries.
India and Pakistan will open their T20 World Cup campaign on October 24. Pakistan have never beaten India in a T20 World Cup fixture, dating from their first meeting in 2007, where an MS Dhoni-led young side defeated Pakistan in the group match as well as the final to lift the maiden title. In 2016 T20 World Cup encounter at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, hosts India crushed Pakistan by six wickets.
The numbers are clearly tilted in India’s favour with 12-0 record against the arch-rivals in the World Cup events, winning on seven occasions in the 50-overs World Cup and five times at the T20 World Cup.
The two teams will be meeting for the first time after the 2019 World Cup, where India registered a comprehensive win over their neighbours by 89 runs via DLS method.
