Sachin Tendulkar Narrates 'Missing Lunch' Story From The IND Vs PAK 2011 World Cup Semifinas

Indian cricket team members were complaining about not having lunch ahead of the World Cup semi-final and upon noticing this behaviour, Tendulkar called a quick meeting and gave a speech.

Source: Twitter

The 2011 ODI World Cup was going to be Sachin Tendulkar's last and the whole Indian team wanted to win it for him. Team India went on to win the Cup for Sachin, giving him a fitting farewell, his first World Cup medal. On his 50th birthday, the batting great relived a never-heard-story with International Cricket Council (ICC) from the campaign, the one before the all-important semi-finals against Pakistan. This was a big game. The hype was real. After all, long-time rivals India and Pakistan played each other for a spot in the final of the World Cup. The fact that the match was in India must have made Indian players more anxious. Today, we just found out that players were even left hungry at the PCA stadium in Mohali on the semifinal day. 

What exactly is this 'Missing Lunch' story?

Recalling the moments before the big semi-final, Tendulkar said that the lunch did not arrive inside the dressing room in time. Indian cricketers got more anxious to find that they may not have proper lunch before the day-night clash.

#OnThisDay, _ years ago, __ defeated __ in the 2011 @cricketworldcup semis _@sachin_rt top-scored with 85 and also won the Man of the Match _#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #INDvPAK @ICC pic.twitter.com/zDX0JmlpRp — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 30, 2021

Tendulkar said that because it was a high-profile match where the Prime Ministers from both the countries were going to arrive, the security was tight. The lunch could have got a little late to arrive at the stadium but it left players tensed. 

"It wasn't exactly a lighter moment, because it was the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2011," Tendulkar said. "India was playing Pakistan. Both the Prime Ministers were going to be there. So it was very, very tight security.

#ThisDayThatYear

Ion March 30th , 2011, when #TeamIndia defeated arch-rivals @TheRealPCB to enter the final of the 50-over @cricketworldcup .

India went on to maintain its 100 per cent winning rate against Pakistan at PCA IS Bindra Stadium in #Mohali .#INDvPAK #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/7MmciucJkc — SportsMate (@SportsMate3) March 30, 2020

"We got to the ground and the normal routine is, you know, once you get to the ground, you have pre-match lunch and then you go out on the field for your warm-up sessions and then slowly, slowly get in the game.

"Because of security reasons, you know, our food hadn't reached the ground, and the whole team was agitated. The whole team was like, ‘Lunch kidhar hai? Where is our lunch? You know, this is the World Cup semi-finals, we need to prepare ourselves’, and all that.

Sachin's inspiring speech

It was difficult for players to focus on the game with empty stomachs and Tendulkar spotted some players till muttering about the missing lunch. It was then that he decided to give a motivational speech to the squad. 

"So we were in a huddle, and that's when I spoke briefly. I said, ‘The world is not bothered whether we've had our pre-match lunch or not. This is the World Cup semi-finals. If you are so hungry, show the world how many runs you can score or how many wickets you can pick. That is what they're interested in. Nobody is interested in knowing whether you've had your lunch or breakfast. None. This is the World Cup semi-finals. Go out there and express yourselves’," Tendulkar recalled. 

India beat Pakistan in the semi-final and booked a spot in the semi-final. Sri Lanla met India in the summit clash. Rest, as they say, is history.