Ravi Shastri Hints 2011 Victory Was Bigger Than the 1983 Triumph. “Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lifts the World Cup after 28 years. The party starts in the dressing room and it’s been the Indian captain who has been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final.” It doesn’t matter whether you follow cricket or not. But there will be hardly anyone in the country who doesn’t remember this famous dialogue from the commentary box by none other than Ravi Shastri, who serves now as the current head coach of the Indian team.
The 2011 World Cup victory will forever remain one of the greatest ever days in the history of Indian cricket. Chasing a tricky score of 275, India were jolted early when Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar returned to the pavilion.
Ravi Shastri Hints 2011 Victory Was Bigger Than the 1983 Triumph
However, it was a special knock from Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni respectively which helped India to chase down the total in the end with one and a half overs to go.
Before the 2011 World Cup, the biggest achievement in Indian cricket history was winning the 1983 World Cup under the leadership of Kapil Dev.
Moreover, the victory gave India enough confidence and instilled the belief in themselves to succeed. Incidentally, Shastri who has been the voice of Indian cricket for years was also a part of the Indian team which won the World Cup way back in 1983.
There is hardly any person in the world who gets an opportunity to be part of the historic event twice. However, Shastri had the luxury of being among them. There is no doubt about the fact that he is very proud of a certain event.
During a candid interview with Gaurav Kapoor in a talk show named “Breakfast with Champions”, Ravi revealed a lot of insights of the two most memorable days in Indian cricket history.
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2011 victory bigger than 1983:
Ravi stated that the 2011 victory was bigger than the 1983 triumph. The sole reason behind this was that India came into the 1983 tournament as sheer underdogs.
Interestingly, no one expected them to win the championship.
However, in 2011 everyone expected India to win. Before them, no team had won a World Cup at the home. Australia repeated the feat in 2015 when they went on to lift the title for the fifth time in their country.
“In 1983, we were the underdogs. Everyone suggested us to just go and give our best shot, there were no expectations. But 2011 was huge for various reasons. The tournament was in India, no team had a World Cup whilst hosting. Everyone wanted India to win,” Shastri recalled.
Ravi Shastri further compared the coverage back in 1983 to the scenario which happened in 2011. Eventually, the pressure on MS Dhoni’s team was on the higher side and hence on that front, Ravi considered it as a bigger achievement.
Well, it has been seven long years since Dhoni dispatched the ball into stands. However, the game in Wankhede is still so fresh in everyone’s memory.
“The difference in media hype in 2011, when compared to 1983, was chalk and cheese. The pressure on those boys (2011 team) was massive and to pull it off in that style, the way MS (Dhoni) finished it, unbelievable,” said Shastri.
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