http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755: Shoaib Akhtar senses a victory against India
Pakistan pace sensation Shoaib Akhtar senses a victory against India in the hyped-up contest set to take place today in the semi-final of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011 between the two rival countries.
Talking to the BBC, Akhtar stressed that Pakistan desperately needed a victory against arch rivals India in order to redeem their glory in the world of cricket, after previously being splashed all over the news for the wrong reasons.
“Pakistan need victory more than any other nation right at this moment. We have been through so much but we are united. We want to achieve our dream," the speedster said.
The year 2010 was exceptionally bad for Pakistan cricket as the country was marred by spot-fixing allegations, which saw three of Pakistan’s mainstream players including, Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Asif ousted from the national team. They were
later banned from playing in international cricket.
After the exclusion of Pakistan’s main pace attack bowlers Amir and Asif, everyone had written-off the Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 from the World Cup. However, Akhtar insisted that Pakistan bounced back and just when the world thought they were going to be pulverised in
the mega event against the power houses of cricket, the team left everyone in awe by reaching the semi-finals.
“People thought we would not even make it to India let alone the final. No one even bothered getting a visa for us,” the Rawalpindi Express explained.
Pakistan defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and Australia in Group A matches, and then the West Indies in the quarter-finals to reach the crunch match against India-A match that will take one team through to the final ending the other’s World Cup dream.
Akhtar insisted despite the hosting rights of the World Cup being taken away from Pakistan because of a terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan side, which completely isolated Pakistan from the world of cricket; Pakistan has still managed to pull off
another glorious performance in the World Cup by reaching the second knock-out stage.
He reiterated that all the controversies surrounding Pakistan cricket had in fact made the team stronger and united them. Mocking the critics he said, “Keep criticising us, keep building up the pressure - it motivates us more and more."
The express bowler seemed in a sound mind to play against the arch rivals and expressed hope of giving a memorable performance against the bitter rivals.
Akhtar has not featured in the playing XI since he was clobbered for 28 runs in an over against New Zealand’s Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 without the services of their express pacer. All three matches were won
by Pakistan. Nonetheless, Akhtar has announced that he will be retiring from international cricket after the World Cup.
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