Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan is dejected over the manner in which Shahid Afridi`s men surrendered the World Cup semi-final to India at Mohali and blamed wrong strategy and lack of self belief for the defeat.

"It has been extremely disappointing for the manner in which they lost last night. As a sportsperson, you should learn to accept defeat," Imran, Pakistan`s only World Cup winning skipper, told the reporters at a promotional event here on Thursday.

"I have always believed that there is no shame in losing if you have tried your best. I am disappointed because they couldn`t play as well as they should have played," he added.

Asked about where Pakistan went wrong, Imran feels the primary reason was not going for the kill when India lost four wickets for less than 150.

"I believed that someone like Saeed Ajmal should have gone for the jugular when India were four down. Except for Sehwag, all the other Indian batsmen struggled but they failed to press home the advantage. That was the first mistake," he pointed out.

The second mistake according to him was to send Asad Shafiq above Younis Khan and Misbah-ul Haq.

"They should have promoted Misbah and Younis up the order. I always believe that your best batsmen should come ahead of others. So when Umar Akmal got out, I could figure that Pakistan were mentally out of the game."

About the questions being raised as to why Pakistan were late in taking the batting Powerplay, Imran termed it as third mistake.

"Not taking Powerplay is a reflection of how they were mentally out of the game even before the last ball had been bowled. It was a case of lack of concentration," Imran concluded.

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