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'Suresh, it's your day, go and win the match': Raina recalls Sachin Tendulkar's words during 2011 World Cup quarterfinal
In a recent conversation, Raina recalled the words Sachin Tendulkar spoke to him as he was getting ready to go out to bat on that fateful day.
The 2011 World Cup quarterfinal between India and Australia was a historic moment in cricket history. It was the first time since the 1999 World Cup that Australia had lost a knockout game in a 50-over World Cup tournament. Australia had won three consecutive World Cup trophies in 1999, 2003, and 2007 - but in 2011, their run was ended by a dominating Indian team led by MS Dhoni.
Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina's crucial 74-run partnership in the 261-run chase was one of the big factors behind India's win. In the 38th over, India had lost half their side, and Yuvraj and Raina were the last two proper batsmen left in the line-up.
It was only the 2nd game Raina was playing in the 2011 World Cup, having replaced Yusuf Pathan who looked out of touch in the first few games in the tournament.
In a recent conversation, Raina recalled the words from India batting great Sachin Tendulkar to him as he was getting ready to go out to bat on that fateful day.
"I was sitting next to Sachin Tendulkar. Virender Sehwag was sitting next to us. Gauti bhai got run out, and then Mahi bhai walked back in. So, I was padding up," Raina told sports presenter and host, Gaurav Kapur, on the latest episode of 22 Yarns Podcast uploaded on Spotify.
"Sachin paaji put his hand on me. He was wearing Sai Baba Ji's kada. He said to me 'it's your day, go and win the match for us today. I think Suresh, it's your day.' So, as soon as that happened, I felt a miracle happening. When I was walking in, Yuvi paa said 'chhodna nahi hai'. I said 'theek hai paaji, will try our best," Raina further recalled.
"When we started batting, we started taking twos, fours, and we started feeling support from the crowds. The more we were building our partnership, the more crowd started cheering for us. We got the momentum in the match, and as soon as the match got over and we won, I felt like it was a blessing from God," Raina said.
"We all wanted to win the World Cup for Sachin paaji, and it came on a very nice day," he signed off.
India, eventually, went on to win the 2011 ODI World Cup defeating Sri Lanka in the final by 6 wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
