Sleepless nights, fear of losing and pressure are the memories of 2011 World Cup semi-final, reveals Harbhajan Singh

The record between India and Pakistan in World Cups stands at 6-0 in favour of India but one of the most important wins among these encounters came in the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup. India had only set a target of 261 runs but managed to skittle out Pakistan for 231 runs to script a historic win. However, Harbhajan Singh has stated that he was quite tensed about the outcome prior to the game and had even endured a sleepless night.

“The memories of that game was I couldn’t sleep the night before, even though I tried my best. I was just worried about what would happen if we lost the game. There were a lot of thoughts coming into my mind,” he said, reported AFP.

Harbhajan was a part of the 2003 World Cup finals where India were thrashed by Australia as they lost the game by 125 runs. The Punjab player, who had picked the only two wickets by an Indian bowler in that game, was worried that what if the same thing takes place once again.

“People get angry and they can do anything. In the 2003 World Cup we didn’t play one game as well as we should have against Australia and people got really angry. They were just burning our stuff and throwing stones at our homes. They get a bit emotional,” recalled the 38-year-old.

India overcame Pakistan that day as each bowler, including Harbhajan, took two wickets each. The Jalandhar born player dismissed Umar Akmal and the then skipper Shahid Afridi.

“When we won the game I couldn’t sleep the next day either because I was too excited and too happy. That’s what the Pakistan game does to you,” the right-hander expressed.

Given the passionate fans, Harbhajan reckoned that pressure is the highest when the arch-rivals face each other.

“Obviously it’s one of those games when the pressure is a little more than when you play against England or New Zealand. People in both countries want their respective teams to win and if you end up losing the game the people really get up upset and they go on to lose their minds, which is obviously quite bad,” he asserted.

“As a player you always want to play well against Pakistan, so there is more pressure. It’s not just for Indian players but for Pakistani players as well. But there is more pressure on the Indian players because we have a very good record in these games and we don’t want to change that,” Harbhajan signed off.