2011 World Cup winner Virender Sehwag has shared an interesting piece of advice for the Indian team going into the high-pressure ICC ODI World Cup on home soil after 12 long years. India’s team defeated Australia 2-1 in their three-match ODI series before the kick-off of the 2023 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma-led side will be riding high on confidence after putting up some good performances in the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI series against Australia. On September 30, India will play England in their first pre-tournament warm-up game followed by a match against the Netherlands before the crucial first game against heavyweights Australia in the World Cup opener in Chennai on October 8th.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag revealed team India’s approach in 2011 was to shut down the outside noise heading into the ODI World Cup. He said that every player was advised to not read newspapers during the event and to try to have more team-building sessions during the event.
“When we had a team meeting, we decided we won’t read newspapers, don’t listen to outside noise. Anything that can add to pressure, we won’t do. It had become a rule and almost everyone genuinely followed that.
“We stayed together, we tried to enjoy and do team-building exercises. Because it’s easy to drift apart in long tournaments such as these. Gary Kirsten and MS Dhoni ensured that we stayed together,” Sehwag said.
The former Indian opener claimed that during the World Cup, the team used to focus more on talking about cricket than what was happening outside. He stated that the Indian team skipper MS Dhoni was more focused on the process rather than the result in the tournament.
“Before and after matches, we had get-togethers. And we used to mostly talk cricket. At dinners, cricket strategies used to be a topic. I used to give suggestions. That was a big reason behind our World Cup win. Of course, we had pressure. Whether we were on the flight, the CISF personnel, in the hotel, the managers and waiters… everyone kept saying, ‘win the World Cup’.
“But MS Dhoni has this one line, ‘focus on the process’. Our process was good, that’s why we won,” Sehwag quipped.
Team India lifted the title for the 2nd time after beating Sri Lanka in the final. Men in Blue won the championship by six wickets.
It becomes pertinent to mention that the Asian giants with that victory under MS Dhoni’s leadership in the WC 2011 final, became the first country to lift the World Cup trophy at home. The Men in Blue would look to replicate the performance of 2011 going into the 2023 World Cup.
