"Media keeps talking about Dhoni's six": Gautam Gambhir says people have forgotten about other players' contribution in CWC 2011

MS Dhoni hit 91* and Gautam Gambhir hit 97 in the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has once again taken a dig at India’s 2011 World Cup-winning captain, MS Dhoni, saying that the media and fans have only worshipped the skipper and forgotten the rest of the players who contributed heavily to the title win.

On April 2, 2011, India became the first host nation to win the ODI World Cup when they defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the event in Mumbai. Gautam Gambhir played an amazing knock of 97, while MS Dhoni hammered 91* to take India home in a chase of 275 runs.

Dhoni hit a six off Nuwan Kulasekara to win India the final and make them two-time ODI World Champions, and the moment is still etched in the memories of every Indian fan who was watching that match.

While there were many cricketers who contributed collectively to India’s World Cup win, like Yuvraj Singh who was the Player of the Series with over 350 runs and 15 wickets, Sachin Tendulkar, who hit two centuries in the tournament, and others like Virender Sehwag, Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan, contributed in the World Cup title victory.

“We haven’t credited Yuvraj enough for the 2011 World Cup”- Gautam Gambhir says MS Dhoni was given too much credit

It is no secret that Gambhir and Dhoni contributed invaluably with the bat in the summit clash against Sri Lanka on 2nd April 2011 to bring home the title after 28 years. However, Gambhir reflected on India’s campaign and stated that Yuvraj, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina, and Munaf Patel, among others, played a vital role in winning the title.

“Do we celebrate Yuvraj Singh enough for what he did in the 2011 World Cup with all the health concerns he had? Do we celebrate Zaheer Khan’s opening spell enough? To start off a World Cup final with four maiden overs is incredible, and yet he isn’t given enough credit. Do we celebrate Sachin Tendulkar’s efforts enough?

Yes, we celebrate him and the win, but how many remember that he was the highest scorer in the World Cup with two hundreds to his name? Do we celebrate Harbhajan Singh’s spell against Pakistan in Mohali or Suresh Raina’s innings against Australia in Ahmedabad and Pakistan in Mohali? Both these innings were match-winning efforts,” Gambhir told Boria Majumdar.

He further added that MS Dhoni’s innings have been celebrated for more than a decade since then only because of social media, while the contribution of the entire team has been forgotten.

“While we celebrate MS Dhoni’s innings in the final, we should celebrate these other efforts as much. No one innings could win India the trophy. It was a collective effort and should be celebrated as such. There is always a tendency on social media to celebrate individuals more than the team. In doing so, what happens is that we don’t celebrate key performers who had as much of a part to play. And that’s an issue for sure,” Gambhir added.

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