'Neither of us scored runs' - Virender Sehwag shares hilarious anecdote involving Sachin Tendulkar from 2011 World Cup Final

It has been over 11 years since India won the 2011 World Cup but the memories of the gala tournament are still fresh in the minds of fans. Over the years, several inside and unheard stories from the competition have come out and Virender Sehwag recently added one more to the tally. The former opener was on song in that tournament as he gave India fiery starts consistently.

However, he failed to make a mark in the all-important final against Sri Lanka and perished for a two-ball duck. While his opening partner Sachin Tendulkar played some fine shots early on, he also fell prey to Lasith Malinga after scoring 18. Sehwag recalled how he and Tendulkar planned to score big on the Wankhede track during the first innings.

Virender Sehwag perished for a duck in the 2011 World Cup final

For the unversed, Sri Lanka batted first in the game and slammed 274/6 in their allotted 50 overs thanks to a fine century from Mahela Jayawardene. As the track looked brilliant to bat, Tendulkar and Sehwag were eager to make their bat talk. However, Malinga spoiled their plans as India were reduced to 31/2.

“I’ll tell you a story about the 2011 World Cup final. Sachin Tendulkar was standing at midwicket, and I was standing at deep square leg. As the sun was setting, we noticed a lot of shine on the wicket. Both of us looked at it, and then looked at each other and signaled that it will be fun to bat on this wicket. Neither of us scored runs,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“So all the discussions that there’s heat, the wicket is flat, you win the toss and choose to bat… if you are in that patch where you can’t score runs, you won’t score runs. It’s as simple as that,” Sehwag had further said.

Meanwhile, the ship was steadied by Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, who played sensible cricket and pushed the Lankans on the backfoot. While Kohli was dismissed for 35, Gambhir scored 97 runs. The baton was then passed on to the then skipper MS Dhoni, who scored 91 not out and finished the game with that iconic six. As a result, the Men in Blue clinched the contest by six wickets.