“Pakistan players were shivering”: Shahid Afridi’s shocking revelation on 2011 World Cup semi-final vs India

Amid India’s T20 World Cup 2026 trophy-winning celebration, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi made some surprising comments on the Indian cricket fans in Mohali.

Walking back down to the memory lane, the former all-rounder claimed that because of the pressure and the atmosphere in the stadium, created by the crowd, they lost the match against India.

Shahid Afridi recalled the Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final vs India

Shahid Afridi was talking about the India vs Pakistan semifinal match at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. India won the match by 29 runs in Mohali, posting 260 runs, batting first. In reply, Pakistan could get only 231 runs.

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As the target was not too big, the Pakistan cricket team was confident of chasing it down. They started the run chase well with their opening pair, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. Misbah-ul-Haq slammed a half-century as well from the middle-order to make their case strong. But the Men in Green, unable to hold back the momentum, lost the match, which was a semifinal.

Afridi explained why Pakistan lost the match

“I remember in 2011, when we were playing the semi-finals in Chandigarh, India, in Mohali, we started very well, Hafeez and Kamran Akmal on the 90th run. We didn't have any wickets on the 90th run. I was also sitting as a captain, relaxed that we will win”, Shahid Afridi said.

Afridi claimed that the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez proved to be the turning point of the match. Hafeez was dismissed for 43 balls off 59 deliveries, smashing seven 4s. Munaf Patel got the important breakthrough for India.

In the match, MS Dhoni, then the captain of the Indian cricket team, used only five bowlers- Patel, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, and Yuvraj Singh to defend the total. All five bowlers claimed a brace each. Zaheer Khan dismissed well-set Misbah-ul-Haq, who was batting on 56.

Shahid Afridi credited the Mohali crowd for the match result

Afridi claimed that as soon as Pakistan dropped the first wicket, the Mohali crowd created such an ambience that the opposing team batters might have been afraid to walk out into the middle. Afridi was the captain, who was dismissed after scoring 19 runs in 17 balls only.

“The first wicket fell. After that, the way the crowd picked up the team and the way the team seemed to be fighting, I think some of our batsmen were shivering while going inside. Because of the noise. I was sitting as a leader captain, and I was seeing that one out, and Hafeez was out”, Shahid Afridi said in a live television show.

He concluded the discussion by saying that, only because of the crowd pressure, they lost the match.

“After that, their players were on every ball. Why? Because there was so much noise behind them. Yes, so there was honestly a lot of pressure on us. So anyway, it was a lot of pressure”, he added.

🚨🚨Big Statement from Shahid Afridi on Pak players shaking at 2011 WC SF.

"Mohali's crowd lifted Indian Team in 2011 WC semi-final & legs of pakistani players were shaking while going to bat, there was just too much noise which put us under pressure."😭pic.twitter.com/BLnNcbhoNv

— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) March 9, 2026

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