India and Pakistan faced off in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final a little over ten years ago, in a match that drew millions of viewers from around the world. Unfortunately, Pakistan lost the match.
Even ten years after Pakistan's semi-final exit from the ICC World Cup, Shoaib Akhtar claims that if he had played the knockout game against India, he would have led the Men in Green to victory. Shoaib Akhtar, who was benched for the rising semi-final match between India and Pakistan, declared his retirement from the game shortly after Pakistan's elimination.Although the veteran speedster - also known as Rawalpindi Express - has been saying that he could have easily helped Pakistan beat India since then, he turned the clock back on Wednesday on the 10th anniversary of the summit clash.
Shoaib Akhtar thinks he "was denied the opportunity" to take Pakistan to the final.
Taking to Twitter, he shared a throwback post from March 30, 2011, commemorating India's victory over Pakistan in the World Cup semifinals.The former speedster said he was denied the chance to lead Pakistan to a World Cup final. Following the onslaught by Ross Taylor against him in the group stage, Akhtar was benched in the 2011 semi-final match.
"The day I was denied an opportunity to take Pakistan to a World Cup final," said the former fast bowler, dubbed The Rawalpindi Express by cricket fans and commentators for his sheer pace, in a tweet.He shared on his twitter handle.