- Commitment throughout
Promoting himself to No. 5 in the 2011 World Cup Final
The nation had gone into a frenzy by the time India had reached the final of the World Cup in 2011. Expectations were high enough to see the home team triumphing but despite the joyous revelry, there were grave concerns over MS Dhoni’s form. But who knew all of that was about to change very soon.
Chasing a formidable target of 275 for victory, India had been rocked hard by the dismissals of Sachin and Sehwag. Gambhir and Kohli had somewhat steadied the ship only for Kohli to get out at the wrong time. Surprising everyone, in walked MS Dhoni at number 5 ahead of the eventual Man of the Tournament, Yuvraj Singh.
What we saw in the next couple of hours was the work of an artist executed with cold blooded precision. He ran hard between the wickets, he cut, he pulled. Malinga’s toe-crushing yorkers were easily flicked to the boundary. And when he won the World Cup with a splendid six over long on the nation erupted.