Published: Apr 03, 2023, 11:03 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 03, 2023, 11:03 AM (IST)
New Delhi: On April 02, 2011, MS Dhoni-led India won the ICC ODI World Cup beating Sri Lanka in the final at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. MS Dhoni sent millions into a frenzy with that towering match-winning six over long on as India lifted the trophy after 28 years. The last Indian World Cup-winning captain Dhoni recalled that evening in Mumbai and revealed his “best feeling” and guess what, it wasn’t the winning moment.
In a recent interview with host Sanjana Ganesan, and former Australia batter Mike Hussey, revealed that the moment that got him emotional was not when he lifted trophy. Rather than that 15-20 minutes before India wrapped up the chase, when the Wankhede crowd started to sing Vande Mataram, that most got his emotional.
The best feeling was 15-20 minutes (before the winning moment),” said Dhoni. “We didn’t need a lot of runs, the partnership was well-placed, there was a lot of dew.
“And the stadium started to sing Vande Mataram. That atmosphere I feel is very difficult to recreate – maybe in this [upcoming 2023] World Cup, there is a similar scenario, once the stadium, the fans start contributing.
“You know, it’s a very difficult (atmosphere) one to replicate. But it can only be replicated if the occasion is similar to that (in 2011) and there are like 40, 50 or 60,000 people who are singing.
“To me, it was not the winning moment, it was 15-20 minutes ago when emotionally I was very high. And at the same time, I wanted to get done with it. We knew that we will win this from here, and it was very difficult for us to lose.
“So yes, you know it was more of a sense of satisfaction, job done, let’s move on from here.”
