Gambhir Says People Only Talk About Dhoni's Six In World Cup Final, Don't Give Credit To Yuvraj, Tendulkar

Gautam Gambhir had played the knock of 97 runs in the final of ICC ODI World Cup 2011 but the player of the match award went to MS Dhoni who hit the winning six and scored unbeaten 91 in the summit clash vs Sri Lanka.

MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir. (Source: Twitter/ANI)

The ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 is coming up soon and the fans cannot wait for the tournament to begin. It kickstarts on October 5 with the game between defending champions England and last edition's runners-up New Zealand at Narendra Modi stadium. India have been billed a favourites to win the tournament along with England, Australia and Pakistan. India play Pakistan on October 14 in the round-robin stage, the biggest clash of the tournament. Ahead of the mega event, cricketers from the previous editions have started to make big statements, and one of them is Gautam Gambhir.

Gambhir, who made a brave 97 in the final of the World Cup 2011 final vs Sri Lanka at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium, has said that the secret recipe for success in a team's sport is playing like one. Gambhir has previously also said that Team India and the cricket culture in the country is individual-centric, which is not how it should be. Gambhir has reiterated the same again. 

'Dhoni finishes off in style!'
That moment #OnThisDay in 2011, when Team India scripted history by clinching the @ICC 2011 World Cup! _ pic.twitter.com/5ayD9SQNNH — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 2, 2017

Speaking about the successful World Cup 2011 campaign, Gambhir said that India won the tournament not just because of captain Dhoni but also because of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh. Gambhir said that he did not want the limelight but he feels sad to see the contribution of Tendulkar and Yuvraj not given same importance as that of Dhoni. 

The truth is that Dhoni had a poor time all through the World Cup before he decided to come up the batting order, replacing Yuvraj Singh at No 5. That was to negate the off-spin of Muttiah Muralitharan. He did that well to and took India to their second World Cup trophy. But Gambhir's 97 was equally important. However, with Dhoni hitting the trophy-clinching six, he has been etched in memories of a billion Indians.

"Forget about me, I think we have not given enough credit to Yuvraj Singh as well. How many people talk about Zaheer Khan's first spell in final? Sachin Tendulkar was out top run-scorer. We leep talking about one six which MS played. You are obsessed with individuals so much that you forget about team," Gambhir told RevSportz.

With this statement, Gambhir must not be looking to start a fresh controversy but ensure that the Rohit Sharma's men play like a team at the upcoming 2023 World Cup. India have not won an ICC trophy since winning the Champions Trophy in 2013. Men In Blue are playing at home and will play under massive pressure at the World Cup.