Sachin Tendulkar has revealed what he told his India teammates ahead of facing Pakistan in the 2011 ODI World Cup. The arch-rivals had met in the semi-finals of the tournament that India went on to win. It was Tendulkar’s first ODI World Cup success. To make it even bigger, the World Cup was held in India.
At the PCA Stadium in Mohali, Prime Ministers of both India and Pakistan were in attendance, as were thousands, to witness the two teams clash for the first time in India in ODIs since 2007.
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“It wasn’t exactly a lighter moment, because it was the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2011,” Tendulkar told ICC Cricket in an exclusive conversation on his 50th birthday (24 April). “India was playing Pakistan. Both the Prime Ministers were going to be there. So it was very, very tight security.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR7b0jgFyDk
“We got to the ground and the normal routine is, you know, once you get to the ground, you have pre-match lunch and then you go out on the field for your warm-up sessions and then slowly, slowly get in the game.
“Because of security reasons, you know, our food hadn’t reached the ground, and the whole team was agitated. The whole team was like, ‘Lunch kidhar hai? Where is our lunch? You know, this is the World Cup semi-finals, we need to prepare ourselves’, and all that.
“And that continued for a while. Even when we went on the field for our warm-up session, there were still a couple of guys thinking about it.”
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Tendulkar, an experienced head by then, used this as an opportunity to rally the troops for the big occasion.
“So we were in a huddle, and that’s when I spoke briefly. I said, ‘The world is not bothered whether we’ve had our pre-match lunch or not. This is the World Cup semi-finals.
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“If you are so hungry, show the world how many runs you can score or how many wickets you can pick. That is what they’re interested in. Nobody is interested in knowing whether you’ve had your lunch or breakfast. None. This is the World Cup semi-finals. Go out there and express yourselves’.”
The words of encouragement from The Little Master worked as India came out all guns blazing in Mohali. He led by example by scoring 85 runs from 111 balls and emerged as the top-scorer that day.
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Support from the lower order took India to 260/9, a target that saw Pakistan fall short by 29 runs.
Deservedly, Tendulkar took home the Player of the Match award for his knock. Three days later, his lifelong dream was achieved: winning the ODI World Cup. At Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai no less.
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