On This Day: March 30, 2011 - India beats Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali

[zain7077]

YK was the real culprit.. 13 of 32 balls is ridiculous and we lost by a margin of 29 runs.

100% we would have won if the selectors had made the obvious decisions of

yousuf malik and fawad in for asad younis and misbah

 

[Varun]

Also Raina, what an absolute clutch player. He single-handedly took India to a decent score from potentially being bowled out.

Sehwag and Raina won us that game. Those two 30s were way more important than Sachin's 85 even if they were numerically less than half the runs.

 

[akki]

Sehwag and Raina won us that game. Those two 30s were way more important than Sachin's 85 even if they were numerically less than half the runs.

Bowlers and especially yuvraj singh spell won us the match. It was below par score.

 

[Oligochaetes]

Pakistan's fielding won India the game.

 

[Syed1]

Yes, number one ranking in tests is certainly a very "low" number. Perhaps 7th or 8th better suits your lofty standards.

Perhaps you started watching cricket when we reached the number one ranking and stopped right after we lost it, because by the time Misbah's career ended we were at number seven in the rankings. What an achievement.

 

[rahulrulezz]

This pic sums up that day perfectly!

I am the original uploader of this pic on internet and I am in this pic!!

As you can imagine, what a day it must have been for us. We all packed up at 4am at our university hall. Since we were alumii by 2011, me and my bestie woke up at 2am to reach my uni and watch this game. The gundas of Indians and Pakistanis are sitting in the front of pic and we did naraaybaaazi throughout the game.

 

[Hasan123]

Missed school for this. Really should have won this game. Even in those times , 260 wasn't a difficult score to chase. The pressure got to all of our batting line up. Had we won this game, I think we would have gone on to win the final.

How sweet would it have been to lift a WC on Indian soil .

 

[Abdullah719]

Perhaps you started watching cricket when we reached the number one ranking and stopped right after we lost it, because by the time Misbah's career ended we were at number seven in the rankings. What an achievement.

When Misbah retired (at the end of the WI tour), we were ranked fifth in Tests.

 

[Syed1]

When Misbah retired (at the end of the WI tour), we were ranked fifth in Tests.

Yes Misbah was our best ever captain...

 

[Abdullah719]

Yes Misbah was our best ever captain...

Didn't take us to #7 as claimed.

I prefer to look at things in perspective. He had many faults and made plenty of mistakes but he also achieved a lot.

Coming back to Mohali, that was a horrible experience but the others in the lineup were just as culpable, if not more. Specially Team Man, for his fabulous ATG knock.

 

[SM1989]

The fact is that despite the 73-51 overall head to head record, Pakistan have never beaten India in a high profile pressure knock out game. That changed on 18th June 2017, hence this defeat has now been redeemed.

Secondly I doubt Pakistan would have been able to play the final in Mumbai given all the threats being made by Bal Thackeray and his group at the time. Therefore it worked out for the best that India progressed. BCCI should avoid holding a tounrament final in mumbai just in case Pakistan qualify.

 

[Syed1]

I remember this day like yesterday... I was in 2nd year of engineering and the Indian student association along with the Pakistani one had booked a big hall for screening of the match. The room was split halfway done the middle with green on one side and blue on the other. The green side was outnumbered 2 to 1, but we were 10 times more vocal. Heck the Indians only had one nara "India Indiaaaaa".... we on the other hand had a whole plethora. Like when an Indian wicket fell we would say "girti hoi dewaar ko....... aek dakhaa aur do", or "delhi ki laaay leeee, mumbai ki laaaaay leeee, saray India ki laaaay leeee" or the ever green "Pakistan zindabad", but all our ethusiasm started deserting us once tuk tuk Misbah started handing the match on the platter to India. Slowly some of the Pakistanis started leaving once it became obvious we were gonna lose, at the end there were only a few of us left and the Indians were hooting and hollering but thankfully they weren't rubbing it in our faces lmao

 

[Varun]

I remember the only time my heart was in my mouth was on the previous evening when it was apparently pouring cats and dogs in Mohali.

If it was a wash out, Pakistan would have progressed automatically as they had finished higher in their group (Group A).

Thankfully sunny climes prevailed.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Was one of the best days of my life. My college is near by chandigarh.Was punjabi dhols ,punjabi music,celebrations,traffic jams all over mohali. Traffic. it is said to be the world biggest cricket match ever as bollywood stars ,politicians p.m of both countries were present as well.
Pakistan people need to know i swear we would love to loose 100 more champions trophy finals to you if we can just get one more win like that.it is uncomparable.
Champions trophy ,we won 2013 chamiions trophy by winning each and every match where i guess pakistan lost all matches,but it didnt excite that much.And 2017 as well we i guess beat pakistan in league match ?? Anyways....allah kre aap aise or 10 champions trophy bhaarat ko haraaye or india world cup 2003,2011,1996,world cup t20 final jese matches ap logo ko haraaye....ameen...

In sha Allah. Thanks for the wishes.

Would never trade a major final win for a league match win against India in the WC. Its a big deal because of the streak otherwise winning a league match against India gives no guarantee to Pakistan actually doing well at the WC.

This SF loss was quite big though. Wasn't really too disappointed since I did not expect that Pakistan to beat India infront of a jam-packed crowd in India. Just didn't feel like this was going to be our game. Misbah provided some good comic relief though.

 

[moghul]

Yes, number one ranking in tests is certainly a very "low" number. Perhaps 7th or 8th better suits your lofty standards.

How about losing miserably in NZL and Australia and what was his personal score ? Everyone can win matches in UAE. Still what he did in 2011 SF, needs to be investigated, I still think he did not want Afridi to be the winner that day.

 

[moghul]

I am the original uploader of this pic on internet and I am in this pic!!

As you can imagine, what a day it must have been for us. We all packed up at 4am at our university hall. Since we were alumii by 2011, me and my bestie woke up at 2am to reach my uni and watch this game. The gundas of Indians and Pakistanis are sitting in the front of pic and we did naraaybaaazi throughout the game.

Where was it, in USA, which university ?

 

[Abdullah719]

How about losing miserably in NZL and Australia and what was his personal score ? Everyone can win matches in UAE. Still what he did in 2011 SF, needs to be investigated, I still think he did not want Afridi to be the winner that day.

Yeah Misbah is responsible for Afridi getting caught off a full toss

 

[moghul]

Yeah Misbah is responsible for Afridi getting caught off a full toss

Losing and winning is part of the game but one's intentions should be to win, Afridi tried but failed, Misbah did not.

 

[Chokli]

Younis scored 13 off 32 balls, a strike rate of 40.62. Misbah scored 17 from the first 42 balls he faced, playing out 27 dots. During this period Pakistan’s required run rate jumped from 6.07 to 8.45. During the 74 balls in which Younis and Misbah were at the crease together, 30 runs were scored.

 

[gazza619]

Younis scored 13 off 32 balls, a strike rate of 40.62. Misbah scored 17 from the first 42 balls he faced, playing out 27 dots. During this period Pakistan’s required run rate jumped from 6.07 to 8.45. During the 74 balls in which Younis and Misbah were at the crease together, 30 runs were scored.

Something doest seem right, isnt it?

I can understand Misbah’s slow rate, but YK being in his shell is strange.

 

[MenInG]

Painful memories....

 

[MT786]

8 years have gone. 2015 wc has past even remember that very well. 2019 wc is so close. Time flies.

 

[trickyone]

Lot of my friends including me kind of stopped watching cricket altogether after the painful lost... Champions Trophy win heal some of the pain but it still...

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Lot of my friends including me kind of stopped watching cricket altogether after the painful lost... Champions Trophy win heal some of the pain but it still...

I stopped watching for some time when Younis, Misbah, and Afridi were still selected after the WC. Couldnt stand the torture and PCB's pathetic plans.

 

[MT786]

I stopped watching for some time when Younis, Misbah, and Afridi were still selected after the WC. Couldnt stand the torture and PCB's pathetic plans.

And they kept on getting selected. Even got selected in the 2015wc.

 

[Nov15]

The most unforgettable memory surely was 4 life-savers gifted by Pakistan to Sachin.

Suresh Raina contributed valuably towards the end of India's innings & in the post-innings interview he was asked whether India playing just one spinner(Bhaji) will affect their chances. Raina replied "nothing to worry, I'm there too". That truly was a post-Ganguly era 'dabang' Indian team full of self-belief.

 

[Hasan123]

One of the most heartbreaking days. We should have chased the score but dropping those catches were ridiculous as well. Missed school for this game .

 

[Bhaijaan]

Sachin’s dropped catches were the highlight of the day. For a player mostly so unlucky with umpiring decisions Tendulkar has a rather odd outing when luck seemed totally on his side.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

My goodness - what a match. Sejwag's brutal assault on Gul . Wahab's comeback with pace and reverse, ajmal and hafeez chucking to control the run rate and finally Raina's rearguard knock. It was easier to chase under lights and I was scared that Pakistan would easily chase especially after that start by hafeez and Kami. But eventually the better team won and despite midbah's meaningless boundaries in the end the match was clearly dominated by India.

 

[CadPakFan]

8 years have gone. 2015 wc has past even remember that very well. 2019 wc is so close. Time flies.

Yeah I still get shocked thinking about it.

 

[Bigbb]

When Umar Akmal hit that one hand six off Yuvraj's bowling , part of me thought "That's it! It's Umar Akmal's day! He's going to take us to Mumbai with an innings of his life."

Then I saw him getting bowled by Harbhajan the very next over. And part of me died that very moment. I knew Afridi and misbah would not do jack in a pressure situation like that.

 

[Hamza_]

Younis Khan and Umar Gul were real mujrims of that day

 

[ARK Rafay]

Literally any Pakistani batsman could've won this. Run rate was fine as well, just needed to play through. But as usual Pakistan throws wickets away

 

[DRsohail]

My goodness - what a match. Sejwag's brutal assault on Gul . Wahab's comeback with pace and reverse, ajmal and hafeez chucking to control the run rate and finally Raina's rearguard knock. It was easier to chase under lights and I was scared that Pakistan would easily chase especially after that start by hafeez and Kami. But eventually the better team won and despite midbah's meaningless boundaries in the end the match was clearly dominated by India.

You forgot the Hawkeye of DRS.

 

[MenInG]

Painful memories....

 

[Savak]

More painful was the fact Misbah got rewarded for life instead of being discarded for good

 

[Ryw]

Painful memories....

and famous DRS debate on Sachin s LBW

 

[Mesozoic]

Sweetest win of my lifetime.

 

[Kaddy]

Special thanks to our legends 'MisYou'

 

[Mesozoic]

and famous DRS debate on Sachin s LBW

I don't know why you guys always complain about that DRS call. Sachin was down the pitch and was hit on middle and leg stump , so it's obvious that it was going to miss the leg stump.

The thing you should be ruing more is the four dropped chances of him.

 

[Mueez]

Sachin was out

Shoaib Akhtar should’ve played.

 

[Ab Fan]

Misbah's only bad inning of his career. Otherwise, he is a living legend.

 

[King_Kohli]

Pakistan had good batting lineup.
Openers played well, I think Hafeez and Umar wickets was Turing point.
Afridi should have played sensible innings, he wasted opportunity.

 

[King_Kohli]

Shoaib was injured?

 

[Saurav]

Unforgettable game.Sehwag's early assault,Wahab's bowling,Raina's finish,Munaf's ball to Razzaq

 

[Saurav]

Shoaib was injured?

No,but his replacement Wahab did well anyway

 

[King_Kohli]

its strange that people only blame misbah,,,,but the fact is younis started tat 'tuk tuk' wen shafiq was batting well,,,

Younis and Afridi were culprits played irresponsible

 

[King_Kohli]

No,but his replacement Wahab did well anyway

ye, he did well.
That Yorker yuvi bowled was awesome delivery

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

Our world cup if not for that selfish Misbah innings... what a moment it'd have been had we lifted the cup in the middle of Mumbai with whole of India watching. We should not miss the chance in 2023!

 

[ahmedzee]

Misbah single handed lost us that game. Pathetic player, pathetic captain and pathetic coach. His defensive mindset would bring Pakistan cricket to its lowest in few years after this semi finals.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Misbah single handed lost us that game. Pathetic player, pathetic captain and pathetic coach. His defensive mindset would bring Pakistan cricket to its lowest in few years after this semi finals.

You misspelled Younis.

 

[Saj]

Very strange performance by Pakistan.

Lots of strange happenings and of course a lot of accusations afterwards.

 

[ahmedzee]

You misspelled Younis.

LOL. Younis is the second culprit but Misbah is my first. Misbah ensured Umar, Asad, Afridi would take risks and give away the wicket. Umar akmal was actually a good player back then, could score if you keep him calm.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

You forgot the Hawkeye of DRS.

Nothing wrong with it. Ajmal was whining as usual

 

[hafizexpress]

Very strange performance by Pakistan.

Lots of strange happenings and of course a lot of accusations afterwards.

Certainly. With the numerous accusations that came after that semi-final, and that too for different players, one cannot help but think it was not a completely fair match.

After a good run to the semi-finals, that too after topping the group and thrashing WI in the QF, the performance displayed in the SF was extremely odd.

 

[hafizexpress]

I still remember what an exciting time it was in that innings break. I was content with the possibility of Pakistan taking the match home because 260 for a team like India was below par.

But then that Pakistan innings was the most grimful piece of thing that I ever saw in my whole life.

 

[Nasty Naz]

LOL. Younis is the second culprit but Misbah is my first. Misbah ensured Umar, Asad, Afridi would take risks and give away the wicket. Umar akmal was actually a good player back then, could score if you keep him calm.

And why did those players take those risks? Was it because of Younis and his absurdly poor score of 13 runs of 32 balls that basically killed the game?

Pakistan were 70-2 at 15.3 overs when Hafeez got out and Younis came in. Pakistan were going at a decent pace, enough to chase 261. In the preceding 10 overs, Younis and Shafiq combined to score 36 runs and both lost their wicket. By the time they lost their wicket, they were at 106 runs with over half of the match's overs bowled and two new batsmen in. Younis lost his wicket to a part time bowler right after Shafiq lost his and he put the team so far behind with his horrendous knock that Pakistan simply could not recover from. He was the #4 batsmen who not only used up a lot of deliveries to kill the run rate but also lost his wicket at a crucial point of the game.

Younis was a legend in Tests but I don't think people realize just how poor he was in ODI's and how much blame he deserves for Pakistan's batting in the 2000's. Arguably the worst ODI player to ever play for Pakistan and that is simply because he played far too much. A horrendous 31.24 AVG in ODI's with a 75.29 SR (28.23 AVG if I included just the main members) playing in the middle order and he played a whopping 265 ODI matches. That is absurd for a player as bad as him in ever facet of the ODI matches. There are certainly worse players to have played for Pakistan but none have played as many as Younis did. And its mind blowing he was as bad as he was playing in the 3/4 position his entire career. That is a position where your best player plays and anchor the innings.

People blame Misbah/Akmal/Shehzad etc all those years of poor batting from Pakistan but Younis was easily and by far the biggest culprit. What an awful ODI player.

 

[Saurav]

That was one weird chase

 

[ahmedzee]

And why did those players take those risks? Was it because of Younis and his absurdly poor score of 13 runs of 32 balls that basically killed the game?

Pakistan were 70-2 at 15.3 overs when Hafeez got out and Younis came in. Pakistan were going at a decent pace, enough to chase 261. In the preceding 10 overs, Younis and Shafiq combined to score 36 runs and both lost their wicket. By the time they lost their wicket, they were at 106 runs with over half of the match's overs bowled and two new batsmen in. Younis lost his wicket to a part time bowler right after Shafiq lost his and he put the team so far behind with his horrendous knock that Pakistan simply could not recover from. He was the #4 batsmen who not only used up a lot of deliveries to kill the run rate but also lost his wicket at a crucial point of the game.

Younis was a legend in Tests but I don't think people realize just how poor he was in ODI's and how much blame he deserves for Pakistan's batting in the 2000's. Arguably the worst ODI player to ever play for Pakistan and that is simply because he played far too much. A horrendous 31.24 AVG in ODI's with a 75.29 SR (28.23 AVG if I included just the main members) playing in the middle order and he played a whopping 265 ODI matches. That is absurd for a player as bad as him in ever facet of the ODI matches. There are certainly worse players to have played for Pakistan but none have played as many as Younis did. And its mind blowing he was as bad as he was playing in the 3/4 position his entire career. That is a position where your best player plays and anchor the innings.

People blame Misbah/Akmal/Shehzad etc all those years of poor batting from Pakistan but Younis was easily and by far the biggest culprit. What an awful ODI player.

I agree. Younis was indeed one of the culprit that day. He should've retired after 2011 WC with dignity but this man went on to play as batsman for Pakistan (not captain) till 2015. He was rightfully dropped in few games of 2015 world cup.

With that being said, only thing in favour of Younis was that he was still a very good captain. Though his position was always doubtful in ODIs. I did lose respect for Younis when he declined to captain Pakistan in 2007 after Inzi, knowing well that he was being groomed for captaincy since 2005. He always had his tantrums and it was unfair to have such a person around for Pakistan cricket.

Misbah on the otherhand instilled the defeatist and defensive mindset in Pakistan and we indeed suffered.

 

[MenInG]

Chasing 261, Pakistan openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez put on 44 runs for the first wicket, but Zaheer Khan provided the first breakthrough for India in the ninth over as he sent Akmal (19) back to the pavilion.

The MS Dhoni-led side eventually went on to lift its second 50-over title as the side defeated Sri Lanka in the finals.

It was on March 30, 2011, when India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan to enter the finals of the 50-over World Cup. India went on to maintain their 100 per cent win-rate against Pakistan in the World Cup after defeating them by 29 runs in the semi-final clash at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali.

In the match against Pakistan, India won the toss and opted to bat first. Openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar put on 48 runs for the first wicket, with Sehwag once again dispatching the first ball of the match for four. The duo’s partnership saw Sehwag smashing Pakistan’s Umar Gul for 21 runs in the third over of the innings.

However, Pakistan finally got the breakthrough in the sixth over of the innings as Wahab Riaz sent Sehwag (25) back to the pavilion. However, Tendulkar maintained charge for India and kept the scoreboard moving for the hosts. Pakistan ended up dropping Tendulkar at least four times, and the Master Blaster made Pakistan pay.

Pakistan finally dismissed Tendulkar (85) in the 37th over as Saeed Ajmal sent the Master Blaster back to the pavilion. India, in the end, faced a batting collapse, but Suresh Raina’s cameo of 36 runs took India’s total to 260.

Chasing 261, Pakistan openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez put on 44 runs for the first wicket, but Zaheer Khan provided the first breakthrough for India in the ninth over as he sent Akmal (19) back to the pavilion.

After Akmal’s dismissal, Pakistan kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were never in with a chance to win the match. All the five Indian bowlers (Zaheer, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, and Yuvraj Singh) took two wickets each to bundle out Pakistan for 231, handing the Indian side a win by 29 runs.

The MS Dhoni-led side eventually went on to lift its second 50-over title as the side defeated Sri Lanka in the finals. The Men-in-Blue also kept their unbeaten streak against Pakistan in the World Cup as the side defeated them in the 2015 and 2019 50-over World Cup. India also managed to outclass the arch-rival in the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cup.


https://zeenews.india.com/cricket/t...an-to-reach-2011-world-cup-final-2351488.html

 

[BreadPakoda]

No way its been 10 years.

 

[MP2011]

Time flies! It's been already a decade since THAT game!

 

[Mesozoic]

Oh man what a day that was!

The best day to be alive as an Indian cricket fan.

 

[kukkad kamaal]

Best day of my life.

 

[Zeshan547]

Oh man what a day that was!

The best day to be alive as an Indian cricket fan.

And it goes without saying worst for us Pak fans, but anyways the hype was unreal, no cricket match will ever come close to that hype. After that heart break i stopped taking cricket teams result too seriously and it helped to enjoy the actual game more without any expectations.

 

[MP2011]

it helped to enjoy the actual game more without any expectations.

Goes without saying, its easier said than done. As humans, we tend to attach ourselves with someone we dearly love. In this instance, you love Pakistan team and hence the attachment and extreme disappointment if they lose especially in such a high profile game.

 

[King_Kohli]

India v Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup:

Sydney 1992 - won by 43 runs
Bengaluru 1996 - won by 39 runs
Manchester 1999 - won by 47 runs
Centurion 2003 - won by 6 wickets
Mohali 2011 - won by 29 runs #OnThisDay
Adelaide 2015 - won by 76 runs
Manchester 2019 - won by 89 runs

 

[King_Kohli]

Very strange performance by Pakistan.

Lots of strange happenings and of course a lot of accusations afterwards.

so many catches dropped and missed easy runouts.

 

[Rajdeep]

It was the most hyped cricket match ever. I remember there was a gap of 5 days from quarter final and all the news channels were just telecasting about this match 24/7 as if there are no other news. That infamous Ravi Shastri-Amir Sohail auto rickshaw & ferrari controversy also picked up during this time. Then during the match day every office, school, colleges all were closed like public holiday. We got emails from HR that atleast come to office and we would put big screens in cafeteria where you can enjoy the game but still no one turned up...lol. This game had so much hype and pressure that the actual final on 2nd April felt so relaxed and tension free.

Hype like this for a cricket match is unthinkable now a days and dont think will ever happen. India & Pakistan has played many games after that including in world cups but nothing beats the mass hysteria associated with this match.

 

[Thanos]

The pain of Pak fans of losing 2011 SF can be mathced by Indian fans of losing 2019 SF, though it was not against arch rival.
Small target in both semis and botched up chase.
But I personally feel Pak had better chances of winning against SL in 2011 final than India had against Eng in 2019 final.

 

[Rajdeep]

The pain of Pak fans of losing 2011 SF can be mathced by Indian fans of losing 2019 SF, though it was not against arch rival.
Small target in both semis and botched up chase.
But I personally feel Pak had better chances of winning against SL in 2011 final than India had against Eng in 2019 final.

Nope.

Mohali defeat pain for Pak fans = CT Finals defeat pain for Ind fans.

Though CT Final was not as much hyped match as Mohali but still that defeat hurt more than Semi finals of 2019.

 

[Thanos]

I stopped following Indian cricket for almost a year after 2019 Semi but that was not the case after CT final.
So Different people, different opinion. And I respect your opinion.

Ignore other WC wins against Pak except 96 WC QF, 2007 T20 WC final and 2011 WC SF. India literally denied Pakistan 3 WC trophies and won 2 out of them.
You give me 5 more CT final defeats against Pak in return of 3-4 WC trophies, I'll take it any day. So that CT trophy loss hurts me but not as much as defeat in WC semi. We already have 2 CT in our collection and we rarely talk about it. But we proudly show our WC trophies.

Plus both 2011 Ind-pak and 2019 Ind-NZ semis had few things in common like, Pak fans blaming Misbah and Indians blaming Dhoni for slow inning. Misbah fans defending him by pointing out failures of Afridi and middle order, Dhoni fans defending him by pointing fingers at Pandya/Pant.

One thing for sure fans from either sides will agree that in both semis, chasing team had game in their reach and they let it go.

 

[Thanos]

Nope.

Mohali defeat pain for Pak fans = CT Finals defeat pain for Ind fans.

Though CT Final was not as much hyped match as Mohali but still that defeat hurt more than Semi finals of 2019.

My above post was in response to you, but forgot to quote reply.

 

[Mamoon]

The hype for this match was unreal. Both teams won their respective semifinals a week before and we had a week of trash-talking from both sides.

ICC also made sure this blockbuster semifinal happens by producing slow pitches in the two quarterfinals.

The amount of hype and pressure overwhelmed both sets of players and almost every player showed nerves. As a result, the match itself was of low quality with both sides playing ordinary cricket.

The result of this match was only hugely significant in the context of the World Cup but also its influence on Pakistan and Indian cricket over the next decade.

While India would have still gone onto become a much better team than Pakistan simply because they had much better talent at their disposal, a lot of things would have been different.

There is no doubt that Pakistan would have gone on to win the World Cup final. Sri Lanka were a strong side in those conditions, but the momentum and confidence that Pakistan would have gained from beating India in the semifinal would have helped them overpower Sri Lanka in Mumbai.

They had already beaten them in Colombo in the group stage and also beat them the in WT20 Final two years back, so Pakistan would have a psychological advantage as well.

Winning the World Cup would have changed Afridi’s legacy completely.

He would have gone on to win the player of the World Cup and would also be the highest wicket-taker.

More importantly, it would have made him a bigger figure in Pakistan cricket than Imran Khan.

Winning a World Cup final India and beating India along the way would have made Afridi the most celebrated hero of Pakistan cricket.

It would also have ensured that he leads the Pakistan team for the next 4 years and at the 2015 World Cup.

With Pakistan winning the World Cup, the Misbah era in ODI and T20Is would have never taken place.

On the contrary, Dhoni’s legacy as captain would have been less celebrated. He would still be considered a great captain but not to this extent, and there would be no biopic either.

Winning the World Cup would have certainly given Pakistan a lot of confidence and boost. It would have replaced the 1992 World Cup as the cornerstone of Pakistan cricket.

PCB would have been able to use its leverage as world champions to get regular bilateral cricket with India in the 2012-2015 period and maybe even accelerate the return of international cricket to Pakistan.

In hindsight, Pakistan should have selected Malik for the World Cup. He was in unreal form in domestic cricket in 2010-11, and he would certainly have handled Yuvraj and Harbhajan better than Younis and Misbah.

Malik batting in the middle-order alongside Umar Akmal in that World Cup would have boosted Pakistan’s batting.

Shafiq did well in that World Cup when he replaced Shehzad who was a complete waste of space. Hafeez and Akmal opening from the beginning with Malik in the middle-order was a much better combination.

That defeat signaled the end of an era as far as Pakistan vs India World Cup rivalry is concerned. It was the last World Cup where Pakistan had a strong chance of beating India. By 2015, it was a more of a David vs Goliath situation.

The Mohali semifinal also signaled the beginning of the end of my love affair with Pakistan cricket. It made me realize that Pakistan will never have the talent and the mentality to become a top side.

Had we won the World Cup, not only would Pakistan cricket be different but PakPassion would also be a different place today.

The 2011 World Cup was the best World Cup of my time as a cricket follower. It was the first World Cup since 1999 that was unpredictable and Australia winning wasn’t a forgone conclusion.

Also, the return of the World Cup to the subcontinent after 15 years caused a lot of excitement in spite of the disappointed of Pakistani losing hosting rights in 2009.

Nevertheless, it was a hugely anticipated World Cup because Pakistan had a very strong chance. The fact that an Indian parrot predicted Pakistan to lift the World Cup also added to the excitement of Pakistani fans.

 

[Mamoon]

Sehwag and Raina won us that game. Those two 30s were way more important than Sachin's 85 even if they were numerically less than half the runs.

In spite of Sehwag’s early onslaught, India were on the ropes at 200/7 and Pakistan were into the tail. Had Pakistan restricted them to 220-230, they would have won in spite of the bottle-job with the bat.

Raina’s innings was the real game-changer in the context of the match. 4 years later, he played another stellar innings against Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup.

 

[Rajdeep]

My above post was in response to you, but forgot to quote reply.

Thing in common between CT Finals and 2019 semi finals is - the fact that we can also lose either of the games was a concept alien to me. Never in million years I thought we will loose.

Call it an arrogance or over confidence but I was rooting for Pak to beat Eng in semis so that we get an easy game in final and get another chance to beat them. Never imagined in my wildest dream that we will lose that game. Even after 1st innings when Pak scored mammoth total, I was confident we would win. Then when Amir started doing his thing it felt so much like Brazil-Germany semi final and reminded me of that infamous commentary line 'Brazil has fallen apart and been humiliated within a span of 20 mins'.

Same was the case in semi final 2019 when it was decided we would face NZ rather than Australia, I was like meh bring on the finals. With 230 odd to chase when the game moved to next day, not for a single minute I thought we could fudge the chase the night before. I was so looking forward to the final against Eng in Lords on sunday and was all set to party with friends. But then shattered dreams.

These 2 matches taught me a lesson - never get over confident in cricket

 

[AMSS]

The fact that an Indian parrot predicted Pakistan to lift the World Cup also added to the excitement of Pakistani fans.

And I thought I knew everything about this world cup.

 

[Mamoon]

And I thought I knew everything about this world cup.

It’s name was Mali. The owner of the patriot claimed that it is psychic and he made it predict the World Cup winner just the octopus predicted the winner of the 2010 football World Cup.

The parrot picked Pakistan as the winner thrice, and apparently it got killed by an Indian fan few days later.

 

[moghul]

Thanks to MIsbah, who was playing for a "draw" we lost it .

He was happy not to let Afridi becoming a hero .

One of the long list of the Misbah's "achievements" .

 

[burger_uno]

Perhaps I was a kid back then but loss of 1987 was the real heartbreaker for me. For the life of us, we could not understand why IK left the fateful last over for Saleem Jaffer? Usually JM/IK combo avoided such mistakes but not on that day. Also credit to SW for demonstrating his clutch credentials. His ODI record looks ordinary but very few players have impacted the WC as he has.

1999 finals loss matched disappointment of loss 1987 semi-final. In 1999, Pak had the bowling to defend a low score but batting did not show up in the final. Decision to select Afridi over MoYo was criminal in my view. Scoreboard pressure and good bowling could have done the job if Australia had to chase any sort of of score. Ironically, this is exactly what happened next time Pak faced Australia which was seven months later in Brisbane. Pak batting collapsed once again although lower order rallied this time and Pak managed to defend a score of less than 200. If only that scenario had unfolded at Lords!.

Looking back at 87 final, that loss probably proved to be a blessing as I cannot see IK continuing had Pak gone to win that WC. Without IK, Pak would not have drawn the 1988 series in WI - one of the high points of Pak cricket. Its incredible to think that a player could come out of retirement and take 20 wickets against the best side in the world in their own backyard. More importantly for Pak cricket, IK held Pak cricket together for another four years while providing a huge influence over next generation of stars. So the 87 defeat really did have a silver lining!

For Mohali, I did not have much expectations. For me, magic had gone out of Pak cricket by then. A team with top order of Akmal, Hafeez, Younis Khan and Afridi really did not deserve loyalty of Pakistan fans. The fact that some any of these players hung around for such a long time is a good indication of why Pak cricket has lagged over the last 10 years.