Team India's 2011 World Cup final star man, Gautam Gambhir, expressed the main reason why he fell three runs shorts from a landmark personal score against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Gambhir came into to bat when the "Men In Blue" were in a sticky position of 31 for 2 after losing both openers wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early on.
The former Team India batsman then formed a formidable 109-run partnership with then skipper, MS Dhoni, before Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera sent in back to the dressing room in the 42nd over for 97.
The 38-year-old has now put the blame on Dhoni for his dismissal by claiming that when he was batting on 97, the former Indian skipper made him conscious by reminding him that he is just three runs away from his century. This made him think too much led to him losing his wicket.
"I have been asked this question many times, on what happened when I was on 97. I tell every youngster and every person that before getting to 97, I never thought about my own individual score but looked at the target set by Sri Lanka," said Gambhir in an interview with Lallantop.
"I remember that after the completion of one over, Dhoni told me that 'three runs are remaining, get these three runs and your hundred would be completed'," he said.
"When your mind suddenly turns to your individual performance, individual score, then somewhere you have a rush of blood. Before that moment, my target was only to chase Sri Lanka's target. If only that target remained in my mind, maybe, I would have easily scored my hundred," said Gambhir.
"Till I was on 97, I was in the present. But as soon as I thought that I am just three runs away from getting a hundred, the rush of blood caused by the desire to get to a hundred took over."
"That's why it's important to remain in the present... When I was walking back to the dressing room after being dismissed, I said to myself that these three runs would trouble me for the rest of my life and that is true. Even to this day, people ask me why I couldn't get those three runs," Gambhir said.
After Gambhir's dismissal, the home side needed only 52 runs to win off 52 deliveries.
MSD remained unbeaten on 91 with all-rounder Yuvraj Singh smashed 21 runs in a short period to help India defeated Sri Lanka to life the World Cup trophy after 28 years.
