The internet has been harbouring claims for a long time that former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar once threatened to "kidnap" Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre if she turned down his proposal for marriage.

In response to the widely shared statement, Sonali has now expressed her doubts about its veracity.

The actor was asked about Shoaib's remark during a podcast interview with Shubhankar Mishra. She has been promoting her most recent show, The Broken News season 2. Additionally, Shubhankar revealed to her that the cricketer had previously admitted to having a major crush on her.

Sonali's response
The actor asked, "Did he really say that? I don’t know how true this is though. Fake news existed even then!” 

In response to the host mentioning a widely circulated rumour that Shoaib had threatened to "kidnap" her, Sonali quipped, “I don’t know if he really said it…”

She was delighted to learn that the cricket player was a fan at that precise moment and exclaimed, "Thank God for that, my career is because of that (audience loving me)!"