The cricket stadium at Motera, Ahmedabad, is proving to be a contented looking floor for the Men in Blue. On Saturday, when India placed on a stunning show to overwhelm Pakistan of their marquee World Cup conflict, some followers would have gone down reminiscence lane reliving the quarterfinals of the 2011 event — when India took on Australia on the identical venue.
PREMIUM After snaring two essential wickets, Yuvraj performed a particular knock, making an unbeaten 57, combining with Raina (34*) to assist the hosts clinch the sport(AP)
Australia then have been the workforce to beat. They had gained the title in 1999, 2003 and 2007. The final two titles had been gained with out shedding a sport. And they regarded fairly good in 2011 too. Well, any workforce that has Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and Brett Lee within the line-up has to current fairly a problem.
So, when India turned up for the quarter-final at Motera, they have been assured however it was of the measured type. A knockout match brings with it a unique form of strain. It’s all on the road. Nothing you have got executed earlier than issues. The previous venue, the Sardar Patel Stadium, is a world other than the huge Narendra Modi Stadium, however the vibe on the sphere continues to be the identical.
The day-night sport was performed on March 24, 2011. R Ashwin and Virat Kohli are the one two gamers from that squad who’re a part of Rohit Sharma’s present bunch and the story of this match will little doubt be retold a couple of occasions earlier than the 2023 event ends. Unlike the India-Pakistan sport, the competition lived as much as the hype as either side matched one another blow for blow.
The fantastic thing about that sport was that it highlighted virtually each side of India’s play that noticed them being topped world champions. It showcased MS Dhoni’s management, Sachin Tendulkar’s pivotal function because the premier batter and mentor, Yuvraj Singh’s all-round brilliance, Gautam Gambhir’s big-match temperament, Suresh Raina’s metal underneath strain and Zaheer Khan’s incisive capacity with the ball.
Ponting, who had been on the core of Australia’s nice World Cup run, was at it once more. Having elected to bat, Australia made regular progress because of their skipper’s 118-ball 104. He did not obtain a lot assist from the others within the line-up. Brad Haddin made 53 and David Hussey bought 38* however that was about it. Still, 260 in a strain match wasn’t that dangerous.
The strain, now, shifted to India towards an excellent Australia assault. Tendulkar, opening the batting, set the bottom with an innings of 53. Gambhir bought 50 too. But nobody fairly managed to stay on and switch their innings into an enormous one. When Dhoni (7) was dismissed with the overall on 187/5, alarm bells have been beginning to ring.
Yuvi’s Cup
But India had Yuvraj. After snaring two essential wickets, the left-hander performed a particular knock, making an unbeaten 57, combining with Raina (34*) to assist the hosts clinch the sport. Their sixth-wicket stand of 74 in 10.1 overs was the very best of the sport.
“I just thought that if I could have a 30-40 run partnership with Suresh, we can take it till the end,” Yuvraj later mentioned.
In his current column for the ICC web site forward of India’s event opener towards Australia final week, Raina described that partnership. “On a personal level, any World Cup match between India and Australia brings back memories of the quarter-final in 2011, a game full of pressure. Australia were the holders and the favourites to win it again,” he mentioned.
“We were chasing 261 and when Dhoni was out, I joined Yuvraj at 187 for five. We had to dig in, we had to take responsibility and play the ball, not the occasion and that’s what me and Yuvi did. In a quarter-final against the reigning champions, you need to bring your A-game and we delivered.”
The largest story of the sport, and of the event too, was undoubtedly Yuvraj. He got here into the event wanting out of shape however by the top, he was unstoppable — with bat and with ball. He owed his success to the management of Dhoni and Tendulkar, the 2 serving to get one of the best out of the mercurial all-rounder.
In the crunch sport, Yuvraj struck within the center overs (for simply 44 runs in 10 overs) when he noticed the again of Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke to disrupt Australia’s early momentum. Later, popping out to bat at 143/3 within the twenty ninth over, which grew to become barely difficult at 168/4 after which 187/5, the southpaw carried India via together with his 65-ball knock.
Reliving the well-known Day-Night sport on “Kutti Stories” in dialog with celebrated commentator Harsha Bhogle on YouTube, Ashwin known as it “Yuvraj Singh’s Word Cup”. “You name it, Yuvraj was there in the centre,” the ace off-spinner mentioned.
Ashwin highlighted Dhoni’s management too: “Like a movie director, Dhoni picks a character and he knows where that character fits, and who is that person (best suited to the role) and gives that person the exact situation to play that role to the T. That is what I think he did with Suresh Raina.”
Happy Unit
Ashwin emphasised on the whole-hearted assist the 2011 workforce obtained. “It was not the team’s World Cup, it was every common man’s World Cup,” he mentioned.
In his interview with the ICC web site firstly of this World Cup, Tendulkar highlighted the camaraderie of his 2011 batch. “Most important for any unit is to stay together. If they are happy it will reflect on the field, if they are divided it reflects on the field as well. We were a very happy cohesive unit. We were so attached to each other… it is important to have good friends, that’s when you are prepared to go any distance for your colleague. That produces results.”
After Rohit & Co’s excellent win at Ahmedabad, they’re going to hope they too go all the way in which and emulate the batch of 2011.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
