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'The best feeling was 15-20 minutes prior to winning moment': MS Dhoni reveals the most emotional moment of 2011 ODI World Cup final

Over a billion people celebrated the 12 anniversary of Team India's 2011 ODI World Cup triumph on April 2 (Sunday).

SportsTak

• Mon • 03 Apr 2023

Over a billion people celebrated the 12 anniversary of Team India's 2011 ODI World Cup triumph on April 2 (Sunday). MS Dhoni provided more joy to the fans as he recreated arguably the most memorable shot in Indian cricket history. The World Cup-winning captain had sent Sri Lanka's fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara's delivery sailing into the stands over the long-on fence which kick-started a party that lasted for months. That one hit from Dhoni ended India's 28-year-long wait for an ODI World Cup triumph and it came on April 2, 2011.

In a special event in Chennai on Sunday (April 2), the former India skipper revealed that the most emotional moment he experienced in the final and it was not the World Cup-winning moment.

"The best feeling was 15-20 minutes (before the winning moment),” said Dhoni. “We didn’t need a lot of runs, the partnership was well-placed, there was a lot of dew," Dhoni said in a conversation with host Sanjana Ganesan, and former Australia batter Mike Hussey

“And the stadium started to sing Vande Mataram. That atmosphere I feel is very difficult to recreate – maybe in this (2023) World Cup, there is a similar scenario, once the stadium, the fans start contributing.

“You know, it’s a very difficult (atmosphere) one to replicate. But it can only be replicated if the occasion is similar to that (in 2011) and there are like 40, 50 or 60,000 people who are singing.

“To me, it was not the winning moment, it was 15-20 minutes ago when emotionally I was very high. And at the same time, I wanted to get done with it. We knew that we will win this from here, and it was very difficult for us to lose.

“So yes, you know it was more of a sense of satisfaction, job done, let’s move on from here," Dhoni opined.

Meanwhile, the former India captain, who is currently participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL), recreated the majestical shot during a practice session with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In a video shared by the Yellow Army on its official social media account, Dhoni can be seen launching the ball over the long-on fence just like he did 12 years ago at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.