Though, it has been almost two weeks since Pakistan lost to India in the ICC World Cup 2011 game, the curious case of the Mohali semi-final is yet to be solved. The Pakistan limited-over captain Shahid Afridi has admitted that he made a few mistakes in the mega event, especially positioning himself in the lower-half of the batting order during the high-voltage semi-final against India was his biggest blunder.
"I am not a born captain and I also make mistakes. I made mistakes in the World Cup particularly in the semi-final at Mohali. I should have gone up the order like Mahendra Singh Dhoni did against Sri Lanka in the final atMumbai," Afridi said.
Pakistan faced a bitter 29-runs defeat at the hands of arch-rival India in the semi-final game of the showpiece event. The Pakistan skipper, who picked up 21 wickets in the recently concluded World Cup, could not perform well with the bat, when it was most needed. The skipper went back to the pavilion after gifting his wicket to Harbhajan Singh while playing a reckless shot.
Afridi was heavily criticised for batting at number eight slot, and now way after the match, the flamboyant all-rounder has confessed that with Abdul Razzaq’s presence down the order, he should have taken the chance by promoting himself up in the order.
"The move by Dhoni in the final to come up himself worked and it could have also worked for us but we all make mistakes it was my mistake," the captain added.
Afridi pointed out that there was a total silence in the stadium, when the Pakistani bowlers restricted India’s strong batting line-up to a total of 260.
Remembering the high-profile clash between traditional rivals, Afridi commented that Pakistan had a very strong chance of winning the match, as the batting once again let the team down. He further vowed not to repeat mistakes, as he has been learning with every passing day.
Though, Afridi remained quiet when asked about the Pakistan-India relationship, the captain put it in simple words that there are some negative elements which are continuously heating up the situation between two neighbours.
Furthermore, Afridi once agains clarified his comments about the Indian people that has been circulating in media for a few days, and spelled out that he is not against India or Indian people.
Afridi further made it clear that he has no plans to retire from international cricket in the near future. Responding to question about his participation in the 2015 World Cup which will be co-hosted by New Zealandand Australia, Afridi commented that he was looking forward to the T20 World Cup that will be taking place next year.
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