Out-of-favour Pakistan batsman Imran Nazir says the 2007 World T20 final defeat against India remains the biggest regret of his life till date and will continue to hurt him till he lives.
India outclassed Pakistan by 5 runs in the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup in Johannesburg on September 24 to lift the title for the first time 13 years ago.
India had posted 157 for 5 on the board thanks to Gautam Gambhir’s 54-ball 75 and Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten cameo of 30 off 16 balls. Pakistan in reply were bowled out for 152 despite a heroic 43 from Misbah-ul-Haq.
“Cricket wise it will remain the biggest regret of my life. It will continue to hurt till my last breath. We had a chance to create history,” Nazir said in a Youtube show called Cricket Boaz With Waheed Khan.
“From a personal point of view, I can say, I should’ve won that match single-handedly for Pakistan like I had done in ISL because when a player starts middling the ball he has the confidence,” he added.
Nazir, who last played for Pakistan in 2012, managed 33 runs in the chase before getting run out in the 6th over thanks to a direct-hit from Robin Uthappa. He still regrets that he wasn’t able to stay till the end to guide Pakistan over the line.
“I was playing really well then, unfortunately, got run out and the match slowly slipped away, it still hurts.
“To reach the finals of the first-ever T20 World Cup and then the kind of crowd and atmosphere was there in the finals, these sort of things stay with you always. I knew whoever performs well that day will win. A good professional is someone who performs out of his skin for his country on such a big occasion.
“I had given a good start, had built a solid partnership but what matters, in the end, is how you finish, which we couldn’t. So all of this is part and parcel of the game. It was a great tournament,” Nazir said.
Imran Nazir played 8 Tests, 79 ODIs and 25 T20Is for Pakistan between 1999 and 2012 before falling out of the selectors’ radar due to his inconsistency with the bat.
