Dhoni reveals ‘emotionally high’ moment during 2011 World Cup-winning knock

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On the day that marked 12 years since that historic win, Dhoni was presented with the moment by ICC Head of Digital Finn Bradshaw and Anshum Bhambri, Founder of FanCraze, the duo awarding him digital collectibles for both his iconic six as well as his unbeaten match-winning 91*.

In a conversation with host Sanjana Ganesan, and fellow guest and former Australia batter Mike Hussey, Dhoni revealed new stories from the day, including a revelation that the usually unflappable Captain Cool found himself getting emotional when India were on the brink of sealing the chase.

"The best feeling was 15-20 minutes (before the winning moment),” said Dhoni. “We didn’t need a lot of runs, the partnership was well-placed, there was a lot of dew.

“And the stadium started to sing Vande Mataram. That atmosphere I feel is very difficult to recreate – maybe in this [upcoming 2023] World Cup, there is a similar scenario, once the stadium, the fans start contributing.

“You know, it’s a very difficult (atmosphere) one to replicate. But it can only be replicated if the occasion is similar to that (in 2011) and there are like 40, 50 or 60,000 people who are singing.

“To me, it was not the winning moment, it was 15-20 minutes ago when emotionally I was very high. And at the same time, I wanted to get done with it. We knew that we will win this from here, and it was very difficult for us to lose.

“So yes, you know it was more of a sense of satisfaction, job done, let’s move on from here.”

That day in 2011 also belonged to India legend Sachin Tendulkar, who finally got his hands on a trophy he’d been chasing for over two decades. It made India’s pursuit of their first World Cup title in 28 years all the more daunting.

“It never gets bigger than that. What I always firmly believe in is keep your eyes on the target, as simple as possible,” said Dhoni. “Once you have achieved it, that’s the time when you can enjoy it to the fullest.

“And the moment you start thinking a lot about why you want to win it, you start focusing more on the result. That’s the time you start mounting undue pressure on yourself.”

Dhoni revealed there were times when he wondered if Tendulkar would claim that elusive prize. “Yes, we all knew that it was paaji’s (Tendulkar) last World Cup and throughout the tournament we had the feeling that we want to do it for him.

“But at the same time, often you have something going in your mind where you say, God has given him everything. And God keeps one thing away from every individual. Is it that 50-over World Cup that God has decided that he will keep with himself?

“We said we will try our best, we will make sure that we are giving a 100% when it comes to the cricket matches and we will accept the results. At the end, very happy to be on the winning side, but it took a lot from the full team and the support staff.”

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