After 28 years, the Indian team led by captain MS Dhoni won the ODI World Cup. On April 2, 2011, the Men in Blue triumphed over Sri Lanka at Mumbai’s famous Wankhede Stadium. With six wickets remaining, Dhoni’s undefeated 91 helped India reach a goal of 275 runs in 48.2 overs.
The renowned former captain of India took part in Tuesday’s Mission Possible event at Parul University. Dhoni reminisced about the incredible atmosphere that the Indian supporters produced in the closing moments of the 2011 World Cup final. The wicketkeeper-batter said that as the summit match was coming to a close, spectators began to chant the famous “Vande Mataram” choir.
Dhoni said that this was the best environment he had encountered in his remarkable cricket career.
Although Dhoni hopes to see more World Cup victories for the Indian men’s and women’s teams in the future, he thinks it will be challenging for the supporters to recreate such an environment.
“It was 15-20 minutes before the final delivery, “Dhoni said. “Wankhede is not a very big stadium, but all the noise stays inside. The whole stadium started to chant Vande Mataram. It was not synchronised. It started somewhere but kept on moving like a Mexican Wave, but more with the voice. Standing in the middle, you could feel it moving around. In my cricketing career, I would say that was the best atmosphere, the best feeling I had at that point in time. Emotionally, I got very high, and that was a very touching moment,” he stated during the match.
That kind of event is really hard to reproduce. The essence of how the game began, what transpired, and how we began the run-chase are all important, he continued. “India dobara bhi jeetegi, Women’s team jeetegi, Men’s team jeetegi, India mai jeetegi, India ke bahar jeetegi, bhagwan kare 100 baar jeetegi (India will win again, the Women’s team will win, the Men’s team will win, they will win in India and outside India as well, may God make them win 100 times)”
Even though he retired from international cricket in 2020, Dhoni is still playing with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, where he will likely play for the 19th time in a row next year.
India
