Team India and Shoaib Akhtar Picture Credit: Twitter
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar was a really competitive and passionate cricketer. His opponents and teammates saw the aggression Akhtar possessed during his playing days. Even after years of retirement, the former Pakistan player talks about the game with the same passion. Akhtar was one of the fastest and most lethal pacers and had the ability to blow away the opposition in one over.
Akhtar’s international career came to an end after the 2011 World Cup. With Pakistan bowing out after losing to arch-rivals India in the semifinals, Shoaib Akhtar decided to call it a day. However, the speedster still regrets not getting the desired climax to his career. Akhtar in a recent interaction revealed how angry he was after he was made to warm the bench in one of the most-awaited games in the 2011 World Cup, India vs Pakistan.
Recalling Pakistan’s loss to India, Shoaib Akhtar said that he desperately wanted to play that game but the management made him sit out. The 46-year-old also remembered how he vented out his frustration in the dressing room.
"Mohali memory haunts me, that 2011 World Cup semi-final. They should have played me; they should have played me. The management did not play me, it was completely unfair. I knew that I had just two matches left and I had this desire that at Wankhede, the Pakistan flag is held high and the team is playing the final. I knew that India was under immense pressure. The entire nation and the media were looking up to India which means the entire pressure was on them and we were the underdogs. So, I believed that we shouldn't have taken the pressure," Shoaib Akhtar told Sportskeeda.
“They told me I was unfit. But I went inside, I bowled eight straight overs during the warm-up. If I played that match, no matter what the consequence would have been, whether I would have broken my leg, I would have dismissed Sachin and Sehwag. I knew India would collapse if Sachin and Sehwag were dismissed early. I was really hurt. So, to see that match for 5-6 hours and watch Pakistan lose from the dug-out, I am not that kind of person who cries but I'm a kind of person who breaks things," Shoaib Akhtar added.
And I did break a few things in the dressing room because I was so sad, disappointed and furious and so was my whole nation. I knew that all it mattered was those first 10 overs,” Shoaib Akhtar added.
Notably, India beat Pakistan by 29 runs in the semifinal to book a place in the final. After posting 260/9 in their 50 overs, the Men in Blue bundled Pakistan for 231.