MS Dhoni had played a 91*-run knock in the 2011 World Cup Final against Sri Lanka.
Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers has shed light on a crucial aspect of having a strong team over having an extraordinary captain or exceptionally talented individuals to win big tournaments like the Cricket World Cup.
De Villiers, a former South African captain himself, stressed that the game of cricket is a team sport. Echoing Gautam Gambhir’s sentiments, the legendary batter stated that World Cup victories should not be attributed solely to individual players.
The Proteas great dispelled a common misconception that individual cricketing maestros, like MS Dhoni or Ben Stokes, single-handedly won the World Cup for their respective countries, India and England, saying it was always a team effort.
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AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel: “Cricket is a team game, it's not a player lifting the World Cup. I see that way too often on social platforms. MS Dhoni did not win the World Cup, India won the World Cup, so keep that in mind. Don't forget that. Ben Stokes did not lift the trophy in Lord's back in 2019, it was team England.”
Notably, Dhoni etched his name in the annals of cricketing glory with an iconic six against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup final to win the prestigious trophy for India. His stellar performance earned him the 'Player of the Match' award, thanks to his remarkable 91*-run knock at Wankhede Stadium.
However, in this World Cup win, Gautam Gambhir (97 in the final) and Yuvraj Singh (Player of the Tournament) also played key roles, but people only talked about Dhoni, and De Villiers felt this was unfair, like the former Indian opener. Gambhir has many times said that India won the World Cup, not Dhoni, but he had to face criticism from the fans.