Karachi, October 05: Pakistan skipper Younis Khan on Monday said the memory of the dropped catch that cost his side a place in the Champions Trophy final would haunt him for the rest of his career.
Younis Khan and his deputy Shahid Afridi today returned home from South Africa to a warm welcome despite the team`s defeat in the semifinals against New Zealand.
But Younis said he still hasn`t gotten over the disappointment of dropping a sitter offered by Grant Elliot, who went on to win the match for New Zealand with a 75-run knock.
“It is an incident of my cricket career that I cannot forget and will never be able to forget because frankly speaking if I had taken that catch things could have been different,” Younis said.
Younis, Afridi and some members of the support staff reached the Karachi airport from Dubai while the remaining players will return home later in the day and take connecting flights to their homes.
People clapped and cheered the players as they came out of the terminal building where local cricket officials garlanded them.
Younis said he was utterly disappointed at the loss because his team had the capability of beating both New Zealand and Australia in the knockout stage.
“This tournament had special significance for us as the ICC had moved it away from Pakistan to South Africa. We wanted to win the trophy and show the world that Pakistan is still a powerful cricket nation and its players and people are resilient even while fighting against terrorism at home,” Younis said.
“It was a case of so near yet so far. We had one bad day in the tournament and it had to happen in the semi finals,” he added.
Younis said Pakistan`s bowling was the strongest in the competition and he would not blame the bowlers for the lapses in the event.
“I just think that it was not our day and we should have won the tournament,” he added.
Younis refused to comment on the criticism of the umpiring in the semifinal pointing out that he could face disciplinary action under the ICC code of conduct.
Afridi also declined to comment on the umpiring. The flamboyant all-rounder said it`s the players who failed to grab their opportunities in the semifinal.
“It is one of the more disappointing losses of my career. I was very confident this team could win the Champions Trophy to follow up on the T20 victory. But the good thing is we have come up as a strong side by playing in semi finals of two major ICC events this year,” he said.
—Agencies