The 2011 World Cup was memorable for we were crowned the world champions after a gap of 28 years. It was all the more special as it was achieved at home.
The win was possible due to a professional display by the side, which had the right mixture of experience and youth. Moreover, they had an astute captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
It was a special moment for me as I had the privilege of being a member of the victorious 1983 World Cup team and was the chief selector for the 2011 team. Right from the beginning of the tournament, the selectors, players and everyone associated with the game were confident that the team would do well.
We knew we will be playing at home, we were well aware of the conditions and importantly, all the players were raring to go. When we picked the side we wanted to have the right mixture of experience and youth. We wanted the side to be similar to the 80s when we had a good combination of specialists and a couple of players with all-round ability. This combination had helped us win the World Cup (1983) and World Series in Australia. So this time too we were keen to get the combination right.
Luckily, our combination worked and right from the beginning we knew Dhoni and his boys would deliver. I would say our win in 2011 was due the boys’ supreme self-belief. When you believe in your abilities and are confident, performance will automatically come. Hence, you can say our team performed as a unit. Each and every player played his role perfectly and upped the game when the team needed it most.
You cannot win a World Cup backing on just one or two players. All the guys like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan delivered in turns.
Yuvraj did brilliantly to be named Man of the Series. We expected a player like him to bat, bowl and field well and he did his job brilliantly. In a World Cup, you need a couple of all-rounders to deliver and give us the extra edge and luckily, Yuvraj did. But I still believe that it was our collective effort and bonding that helped us regain the trophy.
Our boys did not buckle under pressure at any stage. Full marks to them in the manner they played arch-rivals Pakistan in the semifinals and Sri Lanka in the decider.
Sachin, as usual, was brilliant against Pakistan. I do not know why, but right from my time there has been something in us that makes us give an extra bit against Pakistan. Chasing 275 in a final at home with millions watching can be tricky. But our boys went about the task in a calm and composed manner. Dhoni’s move to promote himself over Yuvraj was a brilliant idea. Whenever he has promoted himself at the top of the order, he has done well.
K Srikkanth, who was part of the 1983 World Cup and chief selector during the 2011 edition, spoke to Ashok Venugopal