An inspiring, unbeaten 91 by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped India score a comprehensive six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the final of the ICC World Cup at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday. It is India's second world title, coming 28 years after Kapil's Devils scored that famous, albeit unexpected, win in England against West Indies.
Gambhir scored a valuable 97. However, it was Dhoni who was the star of the show. The man who led India to the inaugural World T20 title in 2007 was at his imaginative best again.
"A few decisions I have taken, including why I brought in Sreesanth instead of Ashwin and why I promoted myself in the batting order ahead of Yuvraj who has been in great form. It could have been that the decisions cost the match. We have been hearing a lot of things during this tournament and so it feels great to win the World Cup. I always wanted to give chance to give chance to younger players by sending them up the order. On Saturday, I thought I would take the responsibility myself. It was more like proving myself and not to others," he said at the post-match presentation after India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the summit showdown here.
Asked specifically if the World Cup triumph was in a way telling the critics to shut up as the players would do their job with their performance, he said, "In India it would be very rude to say like that. We spent the last 30-35 days together in the field and the dressing room thinking of this victory only and we have achieved that now," he added.  Dhoni said coach Gary Kirsten and senior players backed him on his decision to promote ahead of Yuvraj.
"The pressure had got to me in the previous games. In this game, I wanted to bat up the order and Gary and the senior players backed me," said Dhoni, who was declared man of the match for his 91 not out from 79 balls.
He praised Gautam Gambhir (97) and Virat Kohli (35) for keeping the team on track after the early dismissal of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
"Virat and Gautam batted brilliantly. They ran lots of singles. Then with the help of bit of dew, we were able to put pressure on the spinners. I would have liked Gautam to go on and get that big hundred. A World Cup hundred would have been huge. Credit to him for taking the team closer to victory," he said before lifting the World Cup after the trophy was handed to him by ICC chief Sharad Pawar.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara conceded that the Indians were the deserved winners.
"When you look at this Indian team anything less than 350 looks less. They deserved this title, the way they played in front of a great crowd. Both Sri Lanka and India will be proud with the way they have played. Congrats India, you were the better side today. The only way to stop India is to get at least seven wickets quickly and that did not happen. Gautam was outstanding and Dhoni stepped up when it was required. Very proud of everyone, especially Mahela Jayawardene who rose up to the occasion and put up a great hundred. Of course, we are disappointed but I think we would take the positives from this World Cup. Thanks to Sri Lankan fans at home and here, to the president and the support staff," said Sangakkara. |
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