Source: India Today
Published: Sept 23, 2022

 

Gautam Gambhir reveals senior players told him to win 2011 World Cup to take 'conversation away from 1983'

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir revealed the conversation he had with senior players during the 2011 ODI World Cup semi-final, saying two-three seniors came and told him to win the tournament to take "conversation away from 1983".
 

Gambhir went on to add that he wanted to bring glory to India and make people happy instead of "finishing anyone" while referring to the contributions of the Kapil Dev-led team. India won the World Cup for the first time in 1983 after defeating the mighty West Indies in the final at Lord's.
 

"Two or three senior players came to me and said 'we need to win this tournament because we have to take the conversation away from 1983. We have to finish their thing off', Gambhir shared while revealing senior player's remarks on Indian Express's Idea Exchange.

Gambhir added: "I said I haven’t come here to finish anyone. I haven’t come here to shorten someone’s line. I want to win this to extend our line. If the media is giving them jobs from 1983 to 2011, that’s the media’s problem, not ours.
 

"We need to win the World Cup because we want this country to be happy. That is something which needs to change in the future," the former India cricketer said.

India defeated Pakistan by 29 runs in the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup in Mohali and moved a step closer to clinching India's second-ever World Cup trophy in ODIs. In the final against Sri Lanka at Wankhede, Gambhir played a crucial role during India's 275-run chase.
 

India were in troubled waters as they lost openers Virender Sehwag for a duck and Sachin Tendulkar cheaply for 18. It was Gambhir who anchored the India's innings by forming a crucial 83-run partnership for the third wicket with Virat Kohli. Gambhir then joined forces with MS Dhoni to keep India's hopes alive.
 

Although Gambhir was dismissed for 97, he had set the stage for Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh to finish off the work. Dhoni smashed a maximum off Nuwan Kulasekara in the penultimate over to secure a 6-wicket win and a second ODI World Cup trophy for India.