Team India won their first ODI World Cup after a gap of 28 years at home on April 2, 2011, under the leadership of MS Dhoni. With a blend of experience and youth, India became the first host team to win the World Cup trophy. From world-class openers to an array of high-quality all-rounders, the men in blue id their job like a well-oiled machine in the 2011 World Cup. India batsman Manoj Tiwary reckons that it was Sourav Ganguly’s ability to groom youngsters that led to the creation of a championship-winning Indian team in 2011.
Tiwary pointed out that youngsters whom Ganguly groomed during his tenure as captain went on to become match-winners and played key roles in the World Cup triumph. Ganguly himself led India to the 2003 World Cup final but his team stumbled in the final against Ricky Ponting-led Australia.
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During a recent chat with Sportskeeda, Tiwary said, “Sourav Ganguly has played a big part in building that team over a period of time. If you go deeper and see the players who performed well when we won the World Cup in 2011, all the players started when Sourav Ganguly was leading the country.”
He further added, “He gave so much of security to youngsters at that point of time, whether it be Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, or Gautam Gambhir. All that experience worked for us in 2011 under the brilliant captaincy of Dhoni.”
Earlier this year, Sourav Ganguly had recalled India’s 2011 World Cup win and he termed Dhoni’s last-ball six in the final against Sri Lanka as one of the biggest moments in the history of Indian cricket. India chased down the target of 275 runs with the help of Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni scoring nineties. MS finished it off in style with the memorable six over long-on off Nuwan Kulasekara’s bowling at the Wankhede Stadium.
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Recalling the same, Dada had said, “For me, the biggest day was when India won the World Cup in 2011. The great MS Dhoni… that shot, that six off the last ball will remain in Indian cricket history forever and what a moment it was. That team had seven or eight players who started their careers under me. The likes of (Virender) Sehwag, Dhoni himself, Yuvraj (Singh), Zaheer (Khan), Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra.”
