'I would have dismissed Sachin and Sehwag' - Shoaib Akhtar still at pain for missing out on 2011 World Cup semifinal
For Shoaib Akhtar, missing out on the game was a chance denied to try and make a mark for Pakistan at the biggest stage.
Shoaib Akhtar has once again expressed the grudge he holds against the Pakistan team management for not picking him in the playing XI against India for the 2011 World Cup semifinal in Mohali.
The 'Rawalpindi Express', dropped for the marquee clash on injury grounds, says he could've still proved a real handful for Pakistan as they failed to overcome the arch-rivals in Punjab.
Akhtar claims he would've rocked the Indian batting line-up hard if he were playing the match by getting the prized scalps of greats Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Shoaib Akhtar recalled the game and the bitter feeling of having to miss out on one of the memorable face-offs part of the rich Indo-Pak rivalry.
The call to leave me out was "unfair" - Shoaib Akhtar
While the then skipper Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis felt playing him would've been a great risk, Shoaib Akhtar doesn't think so. He, in fact, feels the decision made by the Afridi-Waqar duo and the touring selectors was "unfair".
"Mohali memory haunts me...that 2011 World Cup semi-final. They should have played me, they should have. It was completely unfair from the team management. 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 plays the final," Akhtar said.
"I knew that India was under immense pressure. The entire nation and the media were looking up to the team which means we were the underdogs. So I believed that we shouldn't have taken the pressure."
Akhtar felt that the first ten overs of the game were due to prove decisive in the end result because of the early swing, playing him might have helped Pakistan counter the famous Tendulkar-Sehwag opening dual.
"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, I would have dismissed Sachin and Sehwag. India would have collapsed if Sachin and Sehwag were dismissed early. I was really really hurt."
"So 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. And I did break a few things in the dressing room because I was so sad, disappointed and furious and so was the entire nation. I knew that all it mattered was those first 10 overs," he added.
India went on to win the contest by 29 runs to romp into their third World Cup final, wherein they defeated Sri Lanka in Mumbai to lift their second title.