Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi (Credits: Twitter)

Former Pakistan captain and all-rounder Shahid Afridi has clarified his comments over allegedly holding Misbah-Ul-Haq responsible for the 2011 World Cup semi-final defeat. Pakistan, whose captain was Shahid Afridi, during the 2011 World Cup, tasted a loss to India in the historic game in Mohali. The retired and iconic cricketer, who earlier seemed to have criticised Misbah for his uncharacteristic knock, has set it straight.

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India and Pakistan met for the fifth time in the 50-over World Cups with the former winning all the previous clashes. India, who elected to bat first, dragged themselves to 260 in their stipulated overs as Sachin Tendulkar top-scored with 85 and Suresh Raina providing a handy finish. The tourists began well; however, their vastly inexperienced players like Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, and Misbah-Ul-Haq could not create the desired impact as Pakistan fell 29 runs short of the target.

Shahid Afridi, Sachin Tendulkar
Shahid Afridi and Sachin Tendulkar. Credits: BCCL

Shahid Afridi took to his official Twitter handle and enlightened about his views that the batting effort was a collective failure in the game. The 40-year old stated that his batting was equally responsible for the loss, failing to withstand the pressure and that the blame is not on a single batsman.

What Shahid Afridi initially said?

Shahid Afridi Clarifies His Statement On Allegedly Holding Misbah-Ul-Haq Responsible For The 2011 World Cup Semi-Final Loss
Misbah-Ul-Haq. (Credits: Twitter)

Shahid Afridi, who gave an interview to Arab News, mentioned that Misbah-Ul-Haq’s nature is to play like it, taking his time to settle in and taking the game deep. At the same time, Afridi claimed that in that particular game, the right-handed batsman needed to up the ante to get the scoreboard going. The pressure enhanced continuously as wickets began tumbling rapidly. Afridi, Misbah, and Younis played their last 50-over World Cup four years later.

“Many people speak about Misbah that he played a slow inning. First, it’s the nature of Misbah, this is his game. He takes enough time [to settle]. He strives to take the game to the end. But this situation required [from him] to get the scoreboard going. He [Misbah] should have changed the plan to increase the runs a bit. Pressure built as wickets started falling back to back,” Afridi said in the interview with Arab News.

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