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'We were way ahead. We dominated every team except India and team we faced in final': Akhtar recalls nightmarish 1999 WC
Akhtar, who had come agonisingly close to having his hands on the trophy back in 1999, admitted that he still has nightmares about it.
Legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar has had an illustrious career in cricket with 444 wickets across the three formats. However, the one elusive title that every cricketer desires for, the coveted ICC ODI World Cup, failed to find a space in his trophy cabinet. And Akhtar, who had come agonisingly close to having his hands on the trophy back in 1999, admitted that he still has nightmares about it.
Pakistan, who were placed in Group B, had lost just one game in the first stage of the tournament, against Bangladesh. However, they had finished top of the table to make the Super Six.
In the second stage of the tournament, Pakistan had finished top of the table with three wins in five matches. And although Australia managed to script a similar, Pakistan were placed above them by virtue of a superior run rate. Pakistan then beat New Zealand by nine wickets in the semi-final before losing to Australia in the final.
"That bitter memory is still with me till date. It gives me nightmares. I still believe my inner core is left at Lord's. Every time I went to Lord's, I was never happy. Because I knew we lost the final here, we could have taken the victory lap," he said during an interview with Sportskeeda.
Akhtar added: "Some of of me left there, for good. I love that ground, the people, the atmosphere, but a painful part of my body is still standing there."
Akhtar believed that Pakistan had the best team in the World Cup tournament, a team that boasted the likes of Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood, Abdul Razzaq, and Saqlain Mushtaq.
"We had cruised through to the final of the 1999 World Cup. No disrespect to anyone, but when you compare talent to talent, Pakistan was way ahead of anyone else. We had dominated the opposition except in the two games that we lost. One we lost to India and the other we lost in the final."
