Former Indian fast bowler, Ashish Nehra recalled India’s memorable World Cup 2011 semi-final clash against Pakistan when Sachin Tendulkar played a match-winning knock of 85 to help MS Dhoni and his men to face Sri Lanka in the final. Nehra termed Sachin Tendulkar’s 85-run knock in the semis former India skipper’s ‘scratchiest’ innings, saying even the batting legend knew how lucky he was in that game.
Tendulkar ad received four lifelines during his 85-run knock in the aforementioned match. He was dropped on 27, 45, 70 and 81 by Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal, respectively.
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During a chat in the Greatest Rivalry podcast, Nehra said, “Needless to say, even Sachin Tendulkar himself knows how lucky he was in that game. It was one of his scratchiest innings you’ll see. Whenever you’ve seen Tendulkar scoring even 40, you will see bad decisions or catches being dropped. You’ve reached the semifinal, you’re a good team but in the end, it’s all down to how you handle the pressure.”
India won the toss in Mohali and decided to bat first. Virender Sehwag, who opened the batting with Sachin, got India off to a brisk start before being trapped LBW by Wahab Riaz, hitting 38 off 25 balls. With no other Indian batsman, managing make a big score, Sachin’s knock proved to be the difference between the two sides as India posted 260.
Nehra along with four Indian bowlers (Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, and Yuvraj Singh) took a couple of wickets each to bundle out Pakistan for 231, handing the Indian side a win by 29 runs.
Recalling the same, Nehra said, “The way Virender Sehwag started against Umar Gul (taking him for four fours in an over), at one point in time, we might score 340-350. We ended up 257-58 if I’m not wrong. When we were bowling, Pakistan had a very good start, and defending 257 was a great effort by the Indian team. There’s no doubt about it.”
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After beating Pakistan in the semi-final, India registered a memorable win over Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai, to lift their second World Cup trophy.
