MS Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team that won the ODI World Cup in 2011, after 28 years. The Men in Blue saw off Sri Lanka on 2 April 2011 at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium. Dhoni hit an undefeated 91 to take India’s total to 275 runs with six wickets in hand in 48.2 overs.
The legendary former India captain participated in the Mission Possible initiative of Parul University on Tuesday. Dhoni, in the ceremony itself, harking back to The Indian Fans in that last few minutes of the 2011 World Cup final sported a lovely sentiment. The wicketkeeper-batsman said as the title showdown reached a feverish pitch, fans raised choird “Vande Mataram”. This is the best atmosphere I have come across in my cricketing career,’ Dhoni said.
MSD said while he wants the Indian men’s and women’s teams to win more World Cups in future, creating that kind of an atmosphere might be difficult for fans.
“It was 15-20 minutes before the final delivery,” Dhoni said. “Wankhede is not a very big stadium, but all the noise stays inside. The whole stadium started to chant Vande Mataram. It was not synchronised. It started somewhere but kept on moving like a Mexican Wave, but more with the voice. Standing in the middle, you could feel it moving around. In my cricketing career, I would say that was the best atmosphere, the best feeling I had at that point in time. Emotionally, I got very high, and that was a very touching moment,” he said during the event.
“It is very difficult to recreate that kind of moment. India dobara bhi jeetegi, Women’s team jeetegi, Men’s team jeetegi, India mai jeetegi, India ke bahar jeetegi, bhagwan kare 100 baar jeetegi (India will win again, the Women’s team will win, the Men’s team will win, they will win in India and outside India as well, may god make them win 100 times), but the whole essence of how the game started, what went through, and how we started the run-chase, all those things matter.”
Although Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, he is still representing the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. He’s due to start his 19th straight season for the money-making league next season.
