What was so great about MS Dhoni's 91* in the 2011 World Cup final?

[Slog]

Man Gambhir is one bitter guy. In every aspect of life.

He’s comes across as such a miserable personality lol

 

[Mamoon]

There is no doubt Gambhir played the better innings and that partnership with Kohli was absolutely crucial.

However, Dhoni played one of the most iconic innings in a World Cup final and that winning six is easily one of the greatest moments in World Cup history and certainly the most iconic six in Indian cricket history.

The Pakistani media was running some cringeworthy “Aman ka chakka” campaign throughout the World Cup and they all went quiet after that Dhoni six. )

 

[Napa]

RRR was still 6 when he came in with 28 overs to go

Actually Kohli fell in the 22nd over with 2 balls remaining, and there were still 161 runs to get. So the RRR was 5.68 (161 off 28.33 overs).

Dhoni's innings was fantastic though, and so was Gambhir's. Difficult to choose between the two.

 

[Ab Fan]

Gambhir's inning was better.

When India were 2 down, Kohli and Gambhir decided to weather the storm. Initially, a young Kohli was struggling while Gambhir was pretty fluent but it was important for India that they don't lose any other wicket even if it means Kohli takes some more balls to get himself in.

Gambhir however was pretty fluent even after two wickets loss and he got his first 50 runs at a good rate for that time. Once the consolidation was done, Dhoni took over the responsibility of taking it till the end and he batted at a very good pace and was timing the ball well too.

Gambhir slowed down a bit after Dhoni took over but the hard work was already done by Gambo. Dhoni did well to maintain the tempo and finish off the chase in a memorable fashion.

 

[Savak]

Talking about Grudges. Gambhir to this day feels bitter that Dhoni stole his lime light especially when he and Kohli helped India recover after the loss of two early wickets.

I personally view Dhonis decision to promote himself in that game a selfish decision and that he stoke the limelight unfairly from in form players like Yuvraj and Raina who were in red hot form.

Dhoni promotes himself when it is most convenient ie flat batting conditions, a decent start. Have never seen him promote himself to no 3 on a difficult wicket. He has made a career of letting the run rate sky rocket to 24-30 runs required so that he can go big at the death and bask in the media glory of hitting 2-3 sixes in the final over.

The media only highlights the matches where he has pulled it off but what about the numerous matches he has single handedly lost and screwed his team over with this approach. The 2019 match against England and the SF against NZ is another classic example.

 

[Mamoon]

Gambhir is under-appreciated so his bitterness is understandable. Somewhere between all the adulation for Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Zaheer, his contribution for Indian cricket is often undervalued.

Between 2007-2011, he was the best all-format opener in the world and played match-defining knocks in two World Cup finals. He does not get the amount of respect that he should.

Perhaps his rapid, premature decline played a big role. He was done by 2012-13 which should have been his prime years, and the likes of Rohit and Dhawan stepped up immediately after his retirement which made people forget about him rather quickly.

 

[Savak]

Gambhir is under-appreciated so his bitterness is understandable. Somewhere between all the adulation for Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Zaheer, his contribution for Indian cricket is often undervalued.

Between 2007-2011, he was the best all-format opener in the world and played match-defining knocks in two World Cup finals. He does not get the amount of respect that he should.

Perhaps his rapid, premature decline played a big role. He was done by 2012-13 which should have been his prime years, and the likes of Rohit and Dhawan stepped up immediately after his retirement which made people forget about him rather quickly.

4 years is too short a body of work to be considered great.

 

[Mamoon]

4 years is too short a body of work to be considered great.

He wasn’t a great of Indian cricket but he had a wonderful peak and he deserves more recognition for his contribution during that period. He was underrated even at the time.

 

[Mamoon]

Talking about Grudges. Gambhir to this day feels bitter that Dhoni stole his lime light especially when he and Kohli helped India recover after the loss of two early wickets.

I personally view Dhonis decision to promote himself in that game a selfish decision and that he stoke the limelight unfairly from in form players like Yuvraj and Raina who were in red hot form.

Dhoni promotes himself when it is most convenient ie flat batting conditions, a decent start. Have never seen him promote himself to no 3 on a difficult wicket. He has made a career of letting the run rate sky rocket to 24-30 runs required so that he can go big at the death and bask in the media glory of hitting 2-3 sixes in the final over.

The media only highlights the matches where he has pulled it off but what about the numerous matches he has single handedly lost and screwed his team over with this approach. The 2019 match against England and the SF against NZ is another classic example.

Dhoni was in poor form throughout the World Cup. The decision to promote himself in the final ahead of the in-form Yuvraj and Raina was both courageous and tactical.

It was tactical because two left-handers facing Muralitharan would have been risky, and it was courageous because Dhoni had the self-belief that he could deliver under the pressure of a World Cup final in spite of failing throughout the tournament.

Had he failed in the final, he would have been heavily criticized for trying to steal the spotlight which got backfired etc.

He should a lot of character and and once again proved why he is the greatest LOI captain in history.

 

[Ab Fan]

When the going got tougher in 2019 WC semi final, MSD sends DK and Pandya to do the the dirty work of consolidation and he came at the end to score a match losing fifty inspite of the valiant effort shown by Sir Jadeja.

 

[CricketCartoons]

yes, gambhir and dhoni's 90 odd innings were jussssht half centuries.

 

[MP2011]

Man Gambhir is one bitter guy. In every aspect of life.

He’s comes across as such a miserable personality lol

He is. Cribs about anything and everything. Why should anyone from that Indian team worry about who stole limelight that night?

In fact, Gambhir should be happy, being the 'nationalist' he is, that Indian team won WC that night, nothing else should matter to him. But then that won't be Gambhir we know, the one who is bitter, very bitter.

Perhaps most bitter personality I've ever seen.

 

[MP2011]

When the going got tougher in 2019 WC semi final, MSD sends DK and Pandya to do the the dirty work of consolidation and he came at the end to score a match losing fifty inspite of the valiant effort shown by Sir Jadeja.

This is true. Dhoni has always been a scheming politician, just that we discovered it too late.

 

[Slog]

Dhoni was in poor form throughout the World Cup. The decision to promote himself in the final ahead of the in-form Yuvraj and Raina was both courageous and tactical.

It was tactical because two left-handers facing Muralitharan would have been risky, and it was courageous because Dhoni had the self-belief that he could deliver under the pressure of a World Cup final in spite of failing throughout the tournament.

Had he failed in the final, he would have been heavily criticized for trying to steal the spotlight which got backfired etc.

He should a lot of character and and once again proved why he is the greatest LOI captain in history.

He didn’t take that decision. SAchin basically ordered him to do that and no one says no to Sachin

 

[Mamoon]

He didn’t take that decision. SAchin basically ordered him to do that and no one says no to Sachin

Said who?

Interestingly enough, it is said that Dhoni saying no to Sachin was the reason why he became captain in the first place.

Apparently somewhere in 2006, they were batting together and Sachin gave him some advice and Dhoni told him that you are wrong.

Sachin was so impressed to see a young Indian player not intimidated by him and immediately told BCCI to make him captain.

 

[Ab Fan]

This is true. Dhoni has always been a scheming politician, just that we discovered it too late.

Dhoni's legacy will forever be that he hide down the order behind Pandya in that much needed contest. At 24-4, you want your coolest man to be on field and guide the 21 year old youngster at the other end who did a decent job in weathering the storm.

But the fact that he, Kohli and team management sends Pandya ahead is the single reason why India didn't win the World Cup. It was a farcical decision.

We will win the 2023 World Cup at home but what's the difference ultimately? Inferior ODI players like Smith and Root also won the World Cup at home.

 

[rhony]

All the Indians speak the game would have been won without Dhoni's innings. But I watched the people around me. There were more than 50. They almost gave up after Tendulkar got out. When Kohli was out, they knew Gambhir was just a ball away from getting run out like a lunatic as he didany times before. Or he would come running to the ball and get cleaned up as he eventually did in the final. Everybody knew Yuvraj was always suspect against spin and Murali could have turned it on.

But that didn't happen because the captain of India played the best inning by an Indian that day. He guarded Yuvraj from two off spinners, calmed Gambhir down and calmly took the game away. After the stunning onslaught by Mahela and Thisara, after the fall of Openers and Kohli, Dhoni's batting was the time when every Indian calmed down. They knew he can control the innings. They knew he's the chase master. And he did. He stayed till the end and played the iconic six that inspired many to take up the game.

So when an arrogant Indian fan says that Dhoni's innings was insignificant or when he says Yuvraj could have scored or when they think Gambhir would have remained sensible to scored 97, don't believe them. They were all fretting for 35 overs (SLs last 10 and India's 25). That's what Dhoni does to you. He makes it look easy so every average nobody thinks anybody could have done that. Greatest innings played by the chosen one that won everything.