For everyone who held his breath waiting for the winning run in the final match of the 2011 World Cup and exhaled as skipper MS Dhoni hit a six to win it for India, here's the story behind it.At the NDTV Indian Of The Year Awards 2011, where the Indian cricket team won the award for India's Heroes of the Year for the World Cup magic and history, the Captain Cool narrated how he promoted himself up the batting order in the final against Sri Lanka. "I hadn't planned to promote myself and play earlier. Gary (then coach Kirsten) asked me if I would go early. I thought with two spinners, maybe I should. It worked for me."
Captain cool Dhoni went in to bat ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh and explained why he played that gamble. The deadly Muralitharan, he said, was bowling and having played with the world's best spinner in the Chennai IPL team, he knew his game. The gamble paid off. "Gautam (Gambhir)and I do cheeky singles very well," said the captain, flanked by his team. And then turned to Yuvraj Singh to say, "Yuvi and I run the doubles very well."
And just how does he keep his cool in pressure situations? Count the grey hair said the 30-year-old Dhoni. "I get influenced by pressure but I have so much gray hair because I don't let expressions on field reveal this," he said.
The entire team shared a few words for their captain. "He's like a brother", said Sreesanth. "He pushed me down in the order," Yuvraj said jokingly.
More reminiscences from the historic World Cup. Gautam Gambhir said of his innings of 97 in the final, "As soon as I got out, I thought I will regret these three runs for rest of my life (got out at 97). But being part of winning side makes up for everything.
Current toast Virat Kohli said the team had won the cup for Sachin. When asked about his captain, Kohli said: "He backs his players all the time." Sehwag reiterated his sentiments. While Gambhir called Dhoni "Very relaxed", Ashwin said his skipper is always aware of the situation.
And some laughter. Sunil Gavaskar said the 1983 World Cup winning team was better looking. The poster boy of the 2011 winning team, the rather dashing Yuvraj Singh agreed. "He's right, we are an ugly group of guys."
And some laughter. Sunil Gavaskar said the 1983 World Cup winning team was better looking. The poster boy of the 2011 winning team, the rather dashing Yuvraj Singh agreed. "He's right, we are an ugly group of guys."
Courtesy ndtv.com
