The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final experienced a surprising incident as the captains were involved in the double coin toss. Recently, the then Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, who finished as the runners-up, opened up about that incident.
MS Dhoni-led India and Kumar Sangakkara-led Sri Lanka met in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which was played at the Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai) on 2nd April 2011.
During the toss of that crucial final, Indian captain Dhoni spun the coin. While no one could hear the call from Sangakkara due to huge crowd noise, the match referee Jeff Crowe called it was heads. But, Dhoni, the match referee and the presenter Ravi Shastri all were confused about Sangakkara’s call. In result, the match referee advised for the retake the coin toss.
It was a case of I think it was the crowd: Kumar Sangakkara
In the second time, Kumar Sangakkara called heads, and the coin fell with the same result. After winning that crucial toss, Sri Lanka decided to bat first.
Recently, during the Instagram chat with the Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in Reminisce with Ash, Sangakkara said, “It was a case of I think it was the crowd. It was the crowd. It never happens in Sri Lanka. It only happens in India to me. Once at Eden Gardens, I couldn’t hear myself talk to the first slip. Then of course at the Wankhede.
“I remember calling on the toss. And then, Mahi wasn’t sure what I had called. He said ‘Did you call tails?’. I said ‘No, I called tails’.
“And then the match referee actually said I won the toss. Mahi actually said ‘no, no, no, he didn’t’ There was a little bit of confusion. Mahi said let’s have another toss of the coin. And that’s when the second one went about.”
Sri Lanka managed to score 274/6 (50 overs) at the end of the first innings, majorly thanks to Mahela Jayawardene‘s century (103*). Though India lost both their openers cheaply, Gautam Gambhir (97) and the skipper MS Dhoni (91*) majorly helped the team to secure their second Cricket World Cup title after reaching the target in 48.2 overs after losing four wickets (277/4).
Talking about the turning point of that game, Sangakkara pointed out missed chances and the absence of all-rounder Angelo Mathews. During the semi-final of that tournament, which was against New Zealand, Mathews left the field due to quadriceps muscle injury, and later he came to bat with a runner. Just a day ahead of the final of that tournament, off-spinner Suraj Randiv replaced Mathews in the 15-member squad.
During that tournament, Mathews played a significant role for the Sri Lankan team in the middle-order batting and medium-pace bowling. In that tournament, the right-handed batsman scored 94 runs (average 31.33), and the right-arm medium bowler also took six wickets.