The image of Mahendra Singh Dhoni hitting a six to get the winning runs is perhaps the most memorable moment from India’s 2011 World Cup triumph. Dhoni led India to its second ODI World Cup title with his match-winning 91-run knock against Sri Lanka in the finals. While no one can deny his pivotal role in ensuring the victory, cricketer-turned-commentator Harbhajan Singh is not convinced by the argument that Dhoni did it alone. Speaking on Star Sports ahead of the IPL clash between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, Harbhajan said that victories in cricket are always a collective effort.
It all started when former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif pointed out that KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer, who was the captain of Delhi Capitals in the 2020 season, took the team to finals under his leadership.
IPL FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | ORANGE CAPE | PURPLE CAP
Harbhajan did not quite agree with Kaif’s assessment that Iyer took Delhi to the finals of IPL 2020 and quizzed, “Were the rest of the players playing gulli-danda?” before bringing out the example of Dhoni getting the credit for the 2011 World Cup triumph.
“When Australia wins the World Cup, the headlines are: ‘Australia won the World Cup’. When India won the World Cup at that time, everyone said, ‘MS Dhoni won the World Cup. Toh baaki ke 10 waha lassi peene gaye the? What did the other 10 players do? What did Gautam Gambhir do? What did the others do?” Harbhajan said.
The Indian spin great was making a point that cricket is a team game, and a side could only perform well when 7-8 players collectively display good performance.
Coming to the match, Delhi Capitals after being invited to bat first, put up a mammoth 215 runs on board banking on the good start given by Prithvi Shaw and David Warner. The batters stitched 93 runs together for the first wicket and also completed their half-centuries. Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur’s last minute firework pushed Delhi’s total over the 200 run mark.
In reply, Kolkata could manage only 171 runs before being bowled out with two balls remaining. Shreyas Iyer emerged as the highest scorer for the team scoring 54 off 33 balls.
Get all the latest updates on Cricket News, Cricket Photos, Cricket Videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates and Cricket Scores here