India-Pakistan matches are undoubtedly one of the biggest events in the world of cricket, owing to the rivalry between the two nations off the field too.
As billions of fans follow this game passionately, neither of the two teams likes to be on the losing side. No wonder, Team India take immense pride in their dominating record over Pakistan in World Cups.
Across the 50 and 20-over World Cups, the Indian team has beaten the arch-rivals 12 times and suffered only one defeat.
The 2011 World Cup semi-final clash between India and Pakistan was one of the iconic contests between the two sides, in which the MS Dhoni-led side managed to register a 29-run victory at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
In that high-voltage clash, Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar had won the Player-of-the-Match award. Riding on his luck, Tendulkar had slammed 85 off 115 balls to help the hosts post 260/9 on the board.
Reflecting on that game, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar recently claimed he would have dismissed both Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had he played the 2011 World Cup semi-final.
“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. 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,” he said in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda.
Despite being in the squad, Akhtar didn’t feature in the all-important match as he was declared unfit by the team management.
“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.
With this victory, Team India had entered the final, where they defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to lift the coveted 2011 World Cup title at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
