One of the most unforgettable moments from India’s 2011 World Cup win is MS Dhoni hitting that six off Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara to win the Men in Blue their second ICC World Cup trophy after 29 years, on the eventful evening of April 2, 2011.
The day remains one of the greatest days in Indian cricket history, and as the nation celebrates its 11th anniversary on April 2, former India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has recalled the final and talked about Dhoni's decision to go ahead of Yuvraj Singh.
Yuvraj Singh was in amazing form having scored a hundred and taken a fifer previously in league stages and was later named the Player of the Tournament as well.
"Dhoni going up ahead of Yuvraj. Obviously, at that time Yuvraj was in such amazing form. Even if he scored nought and got no wickets in the final, it was him obviously who was going to get the Man of the Series. He was in such good form. So, it was a very brave decision for Dhoni to go ahead of him in a final because Dhoni’s high score at the time was 35 or 36," Upton told the Times of India.
"He had made no contribution or notable contribution throughout the World Cup (till then). But those really big moments, it’s widely known and has been proven before and subsequent to that over and over again, the man for the really big moment with a real big match temperament in that team, taking the team home, particularly in chasing is MS Dhoni. That’s what he specialized in his whole career,” Upton added.
Gary Kirsten was the Indian team head coach during that tournament, and Upton recalled his chat with the former South Africa opener during the nerve-wracking final.
"Kudos to Dhoni for taking that brave decision, as great leaders do in those key moments. And it was really just a very brief conversation between him and coach Gary Kirsten to recognize that this big moment is the moment for Dhoni.
I remember when Dhoni walked down to bat we were still a long way out from the total, from winning the title. I remember turning to Gary who said – ‘MS is going out there to fetch us the trophy’. Such was Gary’s confidence in MS Dhoni’s ability,” Upton revealed Kirsten saying.
(Times of India inputs)
