The sight of MS Dhoni hitting the winning six for India in the 2011 World Cup final off Nuwan Kulasekara on this day, ten years ago, is still fresh in the memories of the fans as well as everyone who saw it happen at the Wankhede Stadium. It has become quite an iconic shot which one relates to the final and India's historic triumph.
Dhoni being the captain, promoted himself up the order and delivered with an unbeaten 91, while Gautam Gambhir scored 97 as India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 49th over to win the World Cup for the second time after a wait of 28 years.
Gambhir has in an interview with Times of India slammed the obsession of people with the shot and said that the team effort should be recognised and not an individual.
“Do you think that only one individual won us the World Cup? If one individual could have won the World Cup, then India could have won all the World Cups till now. Unfortunately, in India, it's only about worshipping certain individuals. I've never believed in that. In a team sport, individuals have no place. It's all about contributions,” Gambhir said.
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The former batsman further highlighted some of the major performances by his teammates in the tournament to show how the title was won by the whole team and not just by the shot hit by Dhoni to win the final.
Gambhir explained, "Can you forget Zaheer Khan's contribution? His first spell in the final, where he bowled three successive maidens? Can you forget what Yuvraj Singh did against Australia? Or for that matter, Sachin Tendulkar's hundred against South Africa? Why do we keep remembering about one six?
If one six can win you the World Cup, then I think Yuvraj Singh should have won six World Cups for India, because he hit six sixes in an over (against England in 2007 World T20 at Durban). No one talks about Yuvraj. He was the 'Man of the Tournament' in the 2007 (officially, Shahid Afridi was) & the 2011 World Cups. And we keep talking about that one six." he added.
(With Times of India inputs)
