Zaheer Khan believes the bad experience of the 2003 World Cup final against Australia helped him when he turned up for the summit-clash of ICC's flagship event in 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai against Sri Lanka.
Zaheer, who had done magnificently well leading upto the final, recollected the first half of one of the biggest games of his career where his early scalp of Upul Tharanga calmed the Indian nerves down.
A fine bowling effort from Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men ensured the Lankans could manage a less than ideal score for the conditions despite Mahela Jayawardene's great hundred.
"I was completely in my zone. I was personally just in that zone of staying in the present. I wanted to stay in the present and not let the emotions get the better of me. And, for me, I had my personal experience of the 2003 (World Cup) final to guide me through this. You know, how emotions can get the better of you," Zaheer told Sportstar.
"I was more determined from that point of view and as soon as the National Anthem was over it was about going out there and staying in the present. I was in that zone and the first 10 overs were superb."
"It was a very, very hot and humid Mumbai afternoon. For anyone to sustain through that was going to be an uphill task. I'm glad that you know we were able to do," he added.
"In finals, I always knew that it's important to set the tone right. To start the finals well. For me, bowling those three hours and taking that wicket without really giving any run was amazing."
From a nightmarish day at Johannesburg to fulfilment of a lifelong wish in the city of dreams, Zaheer's story found its happy ending.
"During the 2003 World Cup, I was just a young kid coming at the international level, reaching the finals, playing against an opposition which was very strong and experienced," he said.
"Australia had a lot of match-winners in that playing eleven. 2003 was thinking this was going to happen if we win the World Cup. It will be huge, you know. It's not happened since '83. The country is going to go crazy and everyone is expecting us to win. So all those kinds of things also put you under pressure."
Zaheer's ability to swing the new ball and get it to reverse with the old stood-out. His 21 wickets in nine innings at 18.76 were key to India lifting that World Cup.
"When you do something wrong or if you don't get the rhythm going then comes the pressure of what is going to happen if we lose," he added. "So I think it's a pendulum swing between that and the only way to stop it is by staying in the present. You've to be able to block yourself out from these thoughts."
"If you are staying in the present and just observing what the game is, and just reacting to that, these things get simpler. I think that was the experience and learning of 2003 that I applied to 2011."
(Inputs from Sportstar)
