‘He told me between overs as well’ – Gautam Gambhir shares interesting anecdote about MS Dhoni from 2011 World Cup final

12 years after defeating Sri Lanka in the final, India will host the 2023 edition of the 50-over World Cup. The former Indian opener shares one more exciting incident from the 50-over World Cup. He stated that the Chennai franchise skipper asked him to take his time to complete the century. However, the batter got dismissed on 97 by Thisara Perera.

Gautam Gambhir scored 393 runs in the tournament, finishing as the fourth-highest run-getter. The other Indian batters were Virender Sehwag with 380 runs and Yuvraj Singh with 362 runs.

“MS Dhoni was very supportive because he wanted me to get a 100. He always wanted me to get a hundred. He told me between overs as well that ‘get your hundred, take your time, and don’t rush into it. I can accelerate if there is any need to,” Gambhir said on Star Sports after India defeated Sri Lanka in the 1st ODI in Guwahati on Tuesday.

MS Dhoni – The star of the 2011 World Cup final

In final Sri Lanka batted first and set the target of 275 for India in order to win the title. While chasing the target, India lost the wicket of the openers Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early. After losing two wickets, Gambhir and Virat Kohli built up a partnership of 83 runs for the third wicket.

After 83 run partnership Kohli got dismissed when Tilakaratne Dilshan took a stunner to send him back to the pavilion. Then came Dhoni on the crease and he built up a match-winning partnership of 109 runs with the left-hand batter before he was dismissed on 97 by the Sri Lanka pacer.

Yuvraj who was awarded the player of the tournament held his skipper to take India to victory with a 54 runs stand. And in the final Dhoni was awarded the Man of the Match award for his brilliant and unbeaten knock of 91 runs off 79 balls which included eight boundaries and two sixes, while only the other hand Yuvraj remained not out after scoring 21 runs in 24 balls with two fours.