The Men in Blue were on a roll during the ICC ODI World Cup 2011 edition. Gary Kirsten was the head coach of the Indian team at that time. India created waves in all aspects of the game under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. With all the bases covered, they were easily the most dominant team in the competition.
Naysayers wrote the Indians off in the competition. However, the Indians silenced the critics by scripting history as they won the ODI World Cup for the second time after their first glory in 1983.
MS Dhoni’s six off Nuwan Kulasekara was the major talking point in the climax. The ball sailed over the ropes as the party started in the dressing room as India lifted the ODI World Cup for the second time.
MS Dhoni who scored an unbeaten 91* in the run-chase against Sri Lanka was named the man of the match. However at the same time, let’s not forget Gautam Gambhir’s contribution as well.
When Team India lost Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar for cheap scores, pressure was piling up on India’s shoulders. Needless to say, Gautam Gambhir eased the pressure by scoring runs with ease.
The southpaw took the experienced Sri Lanka’s bowling attack to the cleaners. He dictated terms and mounted pressure on the Sri Lankans.
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Gary Kirsten labels Gautam Gambhir as “the rock”
Gautam Gambhir indeed laid a rock-solid foundation for India with his valuable 97-run knock. His innings helped MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh finish off the job. Meanwhile, Gary Kirsten who was the head coach of Team India at that phase couldn’t have asked for a better and collective performance from the Indians in the tournament.
Paddy Upton, the former mental conditioning coach of Team India was with the Indian cricket team that won the 2011 ODI World Cup. He revealed what Gary Kirsten said about Gautam Gambhir.
Talking about the same, he said, Kirsten dubbed Gambhir as the rock and backbone of the Indian batting order. “The rock,’ as Gary Kirsten affectionately dubbed Gambhir, and it was his nickname among the squad as well.
“Because he was the rock, the foundation, and the backbone of that Indian batting order. He allowed Sehwag to play the incredible game that he played. Sachin was permitted to go in and express himself.
“He enabled Yuvraj to come in with that wonderful swing of his and just be so devastating in the manner he did. He set things up for Dhoni to be able to come in and close things off,” Paddy Upton was reported by The Times of India as saying.
“As a result, Gambhir ‘the rock’ was instrumental in providing the rock, the foundation, and the roots of his batting performance on several occasions. There’s no better example than the 97 runs he scored in the World Cup final in Mumbai. Because it was not as stunning as Dhoni’s 91*, it is not much discussed. He was not the one who hit the six over long-on,” Upton added.
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