During an interaction with Muttiah Muralitharan for the International Cricket Council, former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag recalled the intriguing diet preference of the World Cup-winning captain. Dhoni’s unwavering faith in the effectiveness of khichdi played a significant role in shaping the team’s journey during the home World Cup.
Despite Dhoni’s relatively lean patch leading up to the final, having scored just 150 runs in 8 matches, he delivered a spectacular performance on the grandest stage. Promoting himself to No. 4 ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni played an unbeaten innings of 91, which included the iconic winning six, against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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Virender Sehwag shared, “Everyone had their own superstitions, and everyone followed them. MS Dhoni had a superstition of having ‘khichdi’ throughout the World Cup. He used to say that even if I’m not scoring runs, as long as this superstition is working and we’re winning matches, I will continue with it.”
As a vital member of the 2011 World Cup squad, Sehwag contributed significantly with 380 runs, including a century. However, luck eluded him in the final as he was dismissed for a duck while India chased a challenging target of 275.
Coinciding with the announcement of the 2023 World Cup schedule by the International Cricket Council, Sehwag was present in Mumbai. The tournament is set to commence with the opening match between England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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India will begin their campaign three days later at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai against Australia. Ahmedabad will also host the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan clash on October 15 and the grand final on November 19. While reflecting on past triumphs and memorable anecdotes, Virender Sehwag’s revelation about MS Dhoni’s unique ritual adds a fascinating layer to the superstitions that influenced the victorious 2011 World Cup campaign.
