“MS Dhoni got the award but…” Gautam Gambhir says Zaheer Khan was real Player of the Match in 2011 WC final

MS Dhoni received the Player of the Match for his 91* in 2011 World Cup final.

Zaheer Khan | GettyFormer India opener Gautam Gambhir has made another sensational claim about the ICC World Cup 2011 which the Men in Blue won the last time the tournament was hosted in India. MS Dhoni captained the Indian side which defeated Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai on April 2nd.

MS Dhoni was adjudged player of the match for his match-winning unbeaten 91-run knock that helped India chase down a 275-run target to lift the World Cup trophy but Gambhir thought the award should have been given to another player.

Gambhir himself had made 97 runs but reckoned that Zaheer Khan deserved the man of the match award more than anyone else.

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"MS Dhoni got the award but I feel Zaheer Khan was the real Man of the Match. Sri Lanka would have scored around 350 runs had Zaheer not bowled that spell. Nobody recalls his bowling and we only talk about my innings and Dhoni's six. Zaheer was man of the final," Gambhir said on Star Sports while commentating during the Bangladesh-New Zealand World Cup match.

Zaheer started with three successive maiden overs before dismissing Upul Tharanga in the seventh over. He only conceded six runs in his first spell of five overs. Zaheer finished with two wickets for 60 runs in 10 overs.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 16 Oct, 2023

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