MS Dhoni’s to promote himself in the batting order during the 2011 ODI World Cup final remains a widely discussed event in the tournament’s history. Despite the exceptional form of Yuvraj Singh, who was expected to come in after Virat Kohli’s dismissal, Dhoni surprised everyone by walking out to bat. His remarkable innings played a crucial role in India’s victory and their claim to the prestigious trophy.
According to Sri Lanka’s legendary cricketer Mutthiah Muralitharan, he was well aware of Dhoni’s strategy to come out and bat once one of the batsmen was dismissed. Muralitharan recalled the time Dhoni spent practicing against him in the Chennai Super Kings nets, which provided him with insights into Murali’s techniques. This familiarity with Muralitharan’s bowling style influenced Dhoni’s decision to promote himself in the batting order.
“I knew. The reason was that Yuvraj is not comfortable to play me. Yuvraj was the best player in the world cup at the time because at the middle order in the number four position (he did really well) and I knew (Dhoni will come up in the order) because I was bowling a lot to him in nets in Chennai because we were playing in the IPL. So, Dhoni knows how to play me very well. So, he thought when he (Virat Kohli) got out, Dhoni was promoting himself. I knew he would come because he knows how to play me very well,”
Murali said.
It’s unfortunate for Sri Lanka to play the qualifiers: Murali
It’s unfortunate for a country like us to play the qualifiers. We have not played well in the past two years. Still, I think Sri Lanka has very good talents and good spin bowlers and good bowling attack and good batters. Unfortunately, we haven’t played to our potential for the last four-five years. One successful Asia Cup we had but that is T20 cricket. T20 and 50-over cricket is totally different. We anyway have a good side. They are doing well in Zimbabwe. They will be champions of that tournament, definitely because of the way they are playing. In the world cup, we will be a threat to all the good teams because we are not going to be pushovers,”
Murali further added.
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