Shoaib Akhtar says he 'was denied opportunity' to take Pakistan to 2011 World Cup final

A little over 10 years ago, India and Pakistan clashed in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final, in a match that attracted millions of eyeballs across the globe. Pakistan, unfortunately, lost the match. 

Shoaib Akhtar thinks he "was denied the opportunity" to take Pakistan to the final. 

"The day I was denied an opportunity to take Pakistan to a World Cup final," said the former fast bowler, dubbed The Rawalpindi Express by cricket fans and commentators for his sheer pace, in a tweet. 

Akhtar was reacting to an ESPNcricinfo throwback tweet about the March 30, 2011, world cup semi-final clash between India and Pakistan.

The world cup was also Akhtar's swansong as he retired from cricket after the end of the campaign. 

Ten years ago, arch-rivals Pakistan and India battled against each other for a berth at the 2011 World Cup final.

In the match, India led by legendary wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, defeated Pakistan by 29 runs to secure a place in the final against Sri Lanka.

Read more: Shoaib Akhtar relives iconic rivalry with Sachin Tendulkar in Instagram post

India had scored 260 for 9 after the hosts decided to bat first.

The target could have been much lesser had Pakistan not dropped Sachin Tendulkar four times during his innings. The 'Little Master' went on to score 85 runs during the match.

For Pakistan, Wahab Riaz was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets.

As Pakistan took to the field, the batsman crumbled one by one and all of India's five bowlers took two wickets each. For Pakistan, it was only Misbah-ul-Haq who scored a half-century in the chase.