MS Dhoni reveals why he came out to bat up the order in 2011 World Cup final

The highest point of his cricketing career was nearing that evening and MS Dhoni, instead of waiting for it, went ahead to embrace it. The Indian captain promoted himself up the batting order at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on the night of April 2, 2011, to lead his team’s chase of 275 against a spirited Sri Lanka. When he returned to the dressing room, India had added another feather of pride to its crown by lifting the World Cup once again.

The 37-year-old who has been left playing only the 50-overs format for India now is the only cricketer in the world so far to have won both the 50-overs and 20-overs World titles. But why did the wicketkeeper-batsman went out to bat ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh, the Player of the Tournament of that World Cup, in the final?

I knew Sri Lanka bowlers

On Thursday, Dhoni revealed the reason why despite not being in the best of form, he chose to go out to bat ahead of the in-form Yuvraj. Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Dongargaon near Nagpur, Dhoni said: “I knew most of the bowlers of Sri Lanka as they were part of the Chennai Super Kings earlier. I promoted myself because Muralitharan was bowling at that time. I have played him a lot in the CSK nets and I was confident that I will be able to score runs freely against him. That was one of the main reasons why I pushed myself up the order during the final.”

The event was organised for the launch of MS Dhoni Residential Cricket Academy. Dhoni also said that his successful stint as the captain changed the selectors’ perception that a wicketkeeper doesn’t make a good skipper because of the burden that comes with the two major responsibilities.

“Before me, selectors were quite reluctant to make stumper as captain saying he will be burdened too much. But I changed their view with my successful tenure as the captain. Keeper is in the best position to help any captain analyse the match. He is very close to the action and can accordingly guide the team leader about many things. He is an asset for any captain,” Dhoni said.

He became the second captain after Kapil Dev to lead India to win the 50-over World Cup. Kapil’s Devils had won the tournament in 1983 when they defeated the mighty Windies by 43 runs in the final at Lord’s. Dhoni’s men won the final by 6 wickets with the captain himself hitting a straight six as the winning stroke and remained unbeaten on 91.

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