Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian left-handed batsman has been in the news for missing an important meeting of parliament in Delhi as he was doing commentary during the first Test match between India and Bangladesh in Indore recently. He has become a subject of troll to everyone for not only this but also his comment on former India captain MS Dhoni.
However, Gambhir has a serious allegation against MS Dhoni as he thinks because of Dhoni he missed his century in the 2011 ICC World Cup final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai against Sri Lanka. The former player had played a brilliant knock of 97 runs after India had lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag very cheaply. He then steadied the ship with Virat Kohli and after Kohli’s dismissal, it was MS Dhoni who joined him in the middle.
Gambhir meanwhile told, ?I have been asked this question many times, on what happened when I was on 97. I tell every youngster and every person that before getting to 97, I never thought about my own individual score but looked at the target set by Sri Lanka. I remember that when an over was completed, I and Dhoni were at the crease. He told me that ‘these three runs are remaining, get these three runs and your hundred would be completed’.?
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
However, Gambhir feels that Dhoni made him get anxious by?reminding him of his milestone and as a result he got out.
?Suddenly, when your mind turns to your individual performance, individual score, then, somewhere, you have a rush of blood. Before this moment, my target was only to chase Sri Lanka’s target. If only that target remained in my mind, maybe, I would have easily scored my hundred,” Gambhir expressed.
”From getting a hundred, then that rush of blood caused by the desire to get to a hundred (took over). That’s why it’s so important to remain in the present… when I was walking back to the dressing room after being dismissed, I said to myself that these three runs would trouble me for the rest of my life and that is true. Even to this day, people ask me why I couldn’t get those three runs,” he further added.
Moreover, who can forget that epic final of the ICC World Cup where the then captain MS Dhoni remained unbeaten at 91 and sealed the deal with a huge six after 28 years. Despite scoring an incredibly patient knock of 97, Gambhir?s contribution was not much highlighted as MS Dhoni got the accolades.