One of the most memorable moments in the modern Indian cricket is the sight of MS Dhoni sending the ball over long-on as India won the ICC World Cup 2011.
Indian captain MS Dhoni, who played a match-winning innings in the final against Sri Lanka, had promoted himself up in the order. When Dhoni came out to bat at No. 5 India were three for 114 in chase of 275 and to borrow Ravi Shastri's words- all three results were possible.
Lasith Malinga had removed both Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar inside seven overs. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli then steadied the ship before the latter was caught and bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan.
After Kohli's wicket, Yuvraj Singh was supposed to have walked in to bat. However, the Indian captain decided to go ahead of Yuvi. It was a huge gamble as Yuvraj was in great form in that tournament.
Dhoni and Gambhir - the other hero of the Indian chase - added 109 runs for the fourth wicket. Gambhir missed out on a well deserved century and was dismissed for 97. However, by that time the match has swung India's way.
Yuvraj joined the captain after Gambhir's wicket and they took India over the line at Wankhede Stadium as Dhoni sealed the win a six.
Why Dhoni batted ahead of Yuvraj
Dhoni promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj has become a stuff of legend in Indian cricket. The moment was even shown prominently in the film based on Dhoni's life.
Now Dhoni himself has revealed the reason behind the decision. MS said that he promoted himself ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh as he felt he would be able to tackle the spinners better, especially Muttiah Muralitharan.
“I knew most of the bowlers of Sri Lanka as they were part of the Chennai Super Kings earlier,” Dhoni said on the sidelines of an event in Dongargaon.
“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 former Indian captain was in Dongargaon town to launch the MS Dhoni Residential Cricket Academy.
Dhoni also said his ascension to India captaincy and subsequent success has worked in changing the mindset of selectors who were earlier reluctant to trust the team leadership into the hands of a wicketkeeper.
“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. He can release the burden on the captain with his inputs,” he said.
