Former Pakistan fast-bowler Umar Gul has admitted that he regrets for not being able to put a match-winning performance in the 2011 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup semi-final against India in Mohali.
The 36-year-old recently retired from cricket after his side Balochistan were eliminated from the National T20 Cup on Friday.
The right-armer returned with figures of 0-69 from eight overs in the high octaine semi-finals against the arch-rivals nine years back where the Green Caps lost by 29 runs.
The Peshawar-born pacer, while talking to the local media as quoted by Cricket Next, said that the defeat still haunts him to this day.
“I will always regret that I couldn’t perform in that match,” said Gul. “That defeat hurts me, and will continue to hurt me. I believe that it was a match Pakistan deserved to win. We were in top form during the tournament but against India in the semi-final, we couldn’t do what we were able to.”
Speaking on the much-discussed DRS decision which went in favour of Sachin Tendulkar who was given out on the bowling of Saeed Ajmal, Gul said that his teammates were confident that the legendary batsman was out but were taken aback when the replay showed otherwise.
“I don’t know what happened there but it looked like that it was out. If we had managed to take Sachin’s wicket earlier, the result of match could have been different,” he said.
The pacer, who recently hung up his boots from the professional game, said that he was happy with the way his career ended.
“My career had several ups and downs, mostly because of injuries, but I remained focused and made a good comeback every time. Throughout my career, I was supported by my fans and they’re my biggest assets.”
