It’s been 12 years since India won the 2011 World Cup, with the then captain MS Dhoni sealing the trophy with a magnificent six at the Wankhede Stadium.
Now, a dozen years later, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, who was dropped from the 2011 squad, the Men In Blue will soon embark on the journey to reclaim the trophy, which would be their third ODI World Cup title.
Many squad members from that 2011 World Cup-winning squad have given their words of wisdom to Rohit Sharma and co. for the upcoming tournament at home.
Sehwag reveals one-line advice by MS Dhoni to all players in 2011
Blockbuster former India opener Virender Sehwag, who gave India rollicking starts in most of the matches in the 2011 WC, revealed a one-line advice that then skipper MS Dhoni had given to the players, which, Sehwag feels, was crucial in India winning the trophy.
Sehwag reiterated something that Dhoni has regularly, and very frequently said in his career, about focusing on the processes and not thinking too much about the results.
“MS Dhoni has this one line, ‘focus on the process’. Our process was good, that’s why we won,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Another important off-the-field activity that Sehwag recalled from a dozen years back was that the players decided to not read newspapers or see the reactions on social media. The former opener reckons that bonded the team very well.
“We decided we won’t read newspapers, don’t listen to outside noise. Anything which 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 stay together,” Sehwag explained.
India will play two warm-up matches- vs England on September 30 in Guwahati and vs Netherlands on October 3 in Thiruvananthapuram.
India World Cup 2023 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.
