Gautam Gambhir 'blames' MS Dhoni for falling three-run short of century in 2011 World Cup final
Gautam Gambhir has revisited his 2011 World Cup final's 97-run knock against Sri Lanka and blamed MS Dhoni's 'cautionary advice' for not being able to get to his century. The southpaw has also added that those three runs will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life despite the WC success.
An intense and fiery character on the field, a superb batsman who loved the big occasion, it was perhaps prudent that Gambhir chose the biggest stage of cricket to craft one of the finest innings by an Indian player in any form of the game. His 97 in the final was the fulcrum on which MS Dhoni went gaga, and established his legacy. However, the mystery of Gambhir's hurriedness and sudden change in approach left a lot of Indian fans in a huge flux. Eight years since that memorable day in Mumbai, Gambhir decides to open up and revealed the reason for his dismissal.
āI 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. I remember that when an over was completed, I and Dhoni were at the crease. He told me that āthese three runs are remaining, get these three runs and your hundred would be completed,ā said Gambhir in an interview with Lallantop.
Dhoni was batting fluently at the other end and eventually hit the winning six to guide India home. But Gambhir feels he became conscious after that advice and started playing a brand of cricket, which wasn't really his way thus far in the game. It was a dismissal that still continues to hurt him whenever someone reminds him of that day.
āSuddenly, when your mind turns to your individual performance, individual score, then, somewhere, you have a rush of blood. Before this moment, my target was only to chase Sri Lankaās target. If only that target remained in my mind, maybe, I would have easily scored my hundred,ā said Gambhir.
āThatās why, till I was on 97, I was in the present, but as soon as I thought, I am three runs away from getting a hundred, then that rush of blood caused by the desire to get to a hundred (took over). Thatās why itās so important to remain in the presentā¦ 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 couldnāt get those three runs."
Cricket FootBall Kabaddi
Basketball Hockey
SportsCafe