A masterstroke that changed India’s fate in the World Cup 2011 Final was suggested by the little master, Sachin Tendulkar. In an interaction with Times of India, Tendulkar revealed what happened on that day in the dressing room.
Tendulkar shares memory
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar asked Virender Sehwag to convey his message to the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on April 2, 2011. Indians were chasing 275 against Sri Lanka to claim their World Cup title after 28 years. During the chase, Tendulkar thought of promoting Dhoni in the line-up and Sehwag went on to suggest the same to Dhoni. Tendulkar recently explained why he did so. “Yuvi was in tremendous form but Sri Lanka had two off-spinners going, so I thought a strategy change would work. Gautam was batting brilliantly and someone like Dhoni could’ve kept rotating the strike. So I told Viru, tu overs ke beech mein sirf ye baat bahar jaake MS ko bol aur next over shuru hone se pehle waapis aaja. Main yahan se nahi hilne wala.”
Tendulkar further added, “I asked MS to consider this strategy. He then went to Gary (Kirsten), who was sitting outside. Then Gary came in and all four of us got talking about it. Gary too agreed it was the right thing to do, given the attack on hand. MS also agreed and promoted himself up the order.”
Sehwag confirms
Sehwag who was given the task to share the message with Dhoni was sitting beside Tendulkar in this time. Sehwag was, in fact, the first-hand witness of the whole incident. He recalled, “He was right. Left-right combination needed to continue. That change in strategy completely caught the Sri Lankans off guard.”
Viru added, “Before he could even complete his sentence, we saw MS walking into the dressing room. So, that’s when he (Sachin) repeated the same thing to MS, in front of me.”
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