MS Dhoni finally reveals why he came to bat ahead of Yuvraj Singh in 2011 World Cup final
Over 21.4, Virat Kohli is undone by Tillakaratne Dilshan who takes a blinder off his own bowling. India still need 161 runs to win the World Cup. There's pin-drop silence at the Wankhede. And, in walks Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The rest, as we all know, is history.
It was a decision, perhaps the most important one the 2011 World Cup final, which changed the course of Indian cricket.
Dhoni, the then India captain, decided to promote himself at No.5 ahead of Yuvraj Singh and went on to play arguably the most crucial knock of the career till date.
Chasing a daunting target of 275 against Sri Lanka, India were staring down the barrel at 115/3 at the end of the 22nd over. Gautam Gambhir, who had just hit a valuable half-century and was unbeaten on 54, was expecting to be joined by an in-form Yuvraj Singh.
However, it was Dhoni who walked out to bat instead of Yuvraj - a decision which flummoxed even the commentators. And quite rightly so. Dhoni was not in best of touch in the entire tournament and the decision could well jeopardize India's hopes. But who knew that the strongman from Jharkhand had saved his best for the final.
Dhoni, along with Gambhir took the attack to the opposition and put on a solid 109-run stand for the fourth wicket. The former skipper added another 54 runs with Yuvraj for the fifth wicket and ensured India took the trophy home.
Seven years after the famous night at Wankhede, Dhoni opened up on his decision to promote himself.
"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," Dhoni was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
