Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
'That's exactly what happened to me': Gautam Gambhir recalls missing out on century during 2011 World Cup final
10 years after India won the 2011 World Cup, Gautam Gambhir looked back at the importance of his knock of 97 and the shot that led to his dismissal.
Not that it has ever mattered to him, but somewhere down the feeling of missing out on a hundred in a World Cup final has got to sting Gautam Gambhir. The former India batsman was dismissed three runs short of what would have been a century for the ages, when he was bowled by Thisara Perera in the final of the 2011 World Cup final.
Gambhir had walked it at the fall of India's first wicket – Virender Sehwag – with the score reading 0/1. And once Sachin Tendulkar departed, added 83 important runs with a young Virat Kohli for the third wicket. However, the wicket of Kohli for 35 brought out MS Dhoni and the two batsmen forged an alliance that would turn out to be a match-winning one. Gambhir and Dhoni stitched a 109-run partnership to bring India's innings back on track, with the former left-handed batsman hitting nine fours during his 122-ball knock.
10 years after India won the 2011 World Cup, Gambhirlooked back at the importance of his knock of 97 and the shot that led to his dismissal. "I guess the human mind is their best friend and their biggest enemy as well. When you start thinking about the future, it might probably come back to bite you really bad. That’s exactly what happened to me," Gambhir told Cricket.com.
"Till 97, all I was thinking about was getting to 275. But when I was on 97, suddenly you start thinking that you are probably one hit away from a World Cup final century. Or how you’re going to celebrate, or whether it was going to be your moment or you are going to be the first Indian to score a World Cup final century."
Gambhir, the second-leading run-getter for India in that tournament with 393 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar (482), however, has no regrets behind playing that shot. The only things Gambhir would have wanted to happen differently on that night in Mumbai is being there till the end to see the match to its conclusion.
"I am a human being as well and every human goes through those emotions. It was a great learning curve, not only for me but for a lot of young cricketers as well. Everyone should stay in the moment and rather not think too much about it. I was not thinking too much ahead but at that moment I was. Thus, I played that rash stroke. But I have no regrets about it. The only regret I have is not missing the hundred but failing to finish off the game," Gambhir added
"Because for me, if India wouldn’t have gone on to win that World Cup, I would have stayed with regrets for the rest of my life. If someone would have told me a night before that you’d score 97 and India would go on to win the World Cup, would you take it? I would have happily taken it hands down."
