India faced Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup in a high octane encounter which turned out to be one of the memorable matches between the two nations. Despite a competitive total on the board, Pakistan ended up on the losing side courtesy of a masterclass by Sachin Tendulkar.
During a phase where the contests between the two nations were touted as a battle of supremacy of the Indian batsmen against the Pakistani bowlers, India managed to silence the opposition bowling attack which makes the defeat a tough pill to swallow.
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar addressed the match and termed it as the worst match he’s been involved in. He blamed his own fitness issues and Waqar Younis’ poor captaincy for the defeat. He said:
“The most disappointing match for me in my entire career was the 2003 World Cup match against India at Centurion. We had failed to defend a target of 274 despite having a very good bowling line-up,”
The Rawalpindi went on to elaborate his injury in detail and how it affected the outcome of the match. He explained:
“When we started the bowling, I noticed that my left knee had gone numb. Because of which, I wasn’t able to run properly through my bowling run-up. As a result, I was not able to bowl properly. Indian openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, went for the charge from the word go. In fact, Sachin played me very well and even hit me for a six over point.
“I had no clue how to bowl and get the breakthrough. Unfortunately, the captain (Waqar Younis) got me out of the attack. He brought me later in the innings where I just bowled fast and short. I got Sachin out at 98 off a short-pitched delivery. I told the captain that I should have persisted with such bowling from the very beginning. In the end, we lost the match,”
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