Twelve years have passed since Team India, captained by MS Dhoni, defeated Sri Lanka in the 2011 ODI World Cup final. Dhoni, who hadn’t been in the best of form throughout the competition, rose to the challenge and delivered, scoring an unbeaten 91-run knock to get the team over the finish line and break a 28-year trophy drought for the ICC. Dhoni shared his “best memory” from the championship match as he relived the momentous victory, and it wasn’t the one where he struck Nuwan Kulasekara with the game-winning six.
In an interview with the presenter Sanjana Ganesan and fellow guest and former Australia batter Mike Hussey, Dhoni shared fresh accounts from the day, including the admission that the usually unflappable Captain Cool began to feel vulnerable when India was just a few runs away from winning the chase. According to Dhoni, who was quoted by the ICC, “the best sensation was 15-20 minutes (before the winning moment).
“The partnership was well-placed, there was a lot of dew, and we didn’t need many runs.” Vande Mataram began to be sung in the arena. That atmosphere, in my opinion, is very challenging to replicate. Perhaps there will be a situation similar to this at the upcoming World Cup in 2023, once the spectators begin to contribute.
“You know, it’s really hard to recreate that (climate). However, it can only be repeated if the event is comparable to that (in 2011) and there are about 40, 50, or 60,000 singers. “To me, it wasn’t the victory moment; it was about 15 to 20 minutes earlier, when I was very emotionally charged. I wished to finish it at the same time, though. It was very difficult for us to lose because we were confident that we would triumph from where we were. The former skipper said, “So yeah, you know, it was more of a feeling of satisfaction, job done, let’s move on from here.
“You know, it’s really hard to recreate that (climate). However, it can only be repeated if the event is comparable to that (in 2011) and there are about 40, 50, or 60,000 singers. “To me, it wasn’t the victory moment; it was about 15 to 20 minutes earlier, when I was very emotionally charged.
I wished to finish it at the same time, though. It was very difficult for us to lose because we were confident that we would triumph from where we were. The former skipper said, “So yeah, you know, it was more of a feeling of satisfaction, job done, let’s move on from here.
Dhoni acknowledged that he occasionally questioned whether Tendulkar would win that illusive award. Yes, we were all aware that this was Tendulkar’s (Tendulkar’s) final World Cup, and the entire competition, we felt as though we wanted to win it for him. But at the same time, you frequently think to yourself that God has given him everything. And God keeps one secret from each and every person. Is it the World Cup for 50-over teams that God has chosen to keep to himself?
“We promised that we would do our very best, that we would give every cricket match our all, and that we would accept the outcomes. It took a lot from the entire squad and the support staff, but in the end, I’m very happy to be on the winning side,” said Dhoni.
India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the championship game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Sri Lanka batted first and amassed 274/6 in their 50 overs. Lanka reached a respectable score thanks to the unbeaten century of Mahela Jayawardene (103), as well as contributions from captain Kumar Sangakkara (48), Nuwan Kulasekara (32) and Thisara Perera (22). Two wickets each were taken by Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan Singh.
India lost Tendulkar (18) and Sehwag (0) early in their 275-run chase. Virat Kohli (35) and Gautam Gambhir’s 83-run partnership, however, gave India new hope. Gambhir eventually scored 97 runs in 122 deliveries and added 109 runs to the total with MS Dhoni, the captain, who finished with an unbeaten 91* off 79 balls. In their unbroken 54-run partnership for the fifth wicket, Dhoni and Yuvraj (21*) led Team India to their first World Cup victory in 28 years.
Notably, India will serve as the exclusive host nation for the complete Cricket World Cup in 2023.
