‘Because MS Dhoni Was…’: Ex-spinner On Major Reason Behind India's 2011 World Cup Win

Pragyan Ojha, a former left-arm spinner for India, claimed that MS Dhoni‘s trust in assembling a squad of 25–30 players capable of handling the biggest moments at any time was one of the factors that contributed to India’s title-winning run in the 2011 ODI World Cup.

India won the ODI World Cup under Dhoni’s leadership for the first time in 28 years. In front of a crowded Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, they defeated Sri Lanka in the championship game, with Dhoni scoring an undefeated 91.

MS Dhoni’s Vision Main Reason For 2011 World Cup Success: Pragyan Ojha

“I strongly feel that the reason the 2011 World Cup was a success for us was because MS Dhoni was very serious about all the guys who were going to be in the mix, the 25 or 30, needed to play at least 40 games before the World Cup started.

You may have scored a lot of runs but if you don’t have the experience of dealing with various situations, you may not feel it during the league matches but the most important games, the knockouts, the semi-finals and the finals …. That is when that experience really helps you,” Ojha said on FanCode.

Competition Has Become Neck To Neck: Pragyan Ojha

The former spinner was discussing India’s ongoing reshuffling of their limited-overs squads in the backdrop of the T20 World Cup, which is still a little over two months away.

“Jab aapke paas itna bada pool rehte hai, toh uska downside bhi agar aap dekhein, toh jabhi bhi aapko mauka milta hai … it will be limited.

Agar aapka pool bada nahin hai, toh shayad aapko 10-12 mil sake hain but when you talk about Indian cricket right now, aapko 10 nahin aapko shayad 5 matches milenge ya shayad 3 kyunki pool itna bada hai.

Competition has become neck to neck. Players are performing so you have to bring you A game, and if you do not perform and another guy does and some senior play gets back in, then unfortunately you will miss out,” Ojha said.

Suryakumar Yadav And Deepak Hooda Good Example Of Seizing Your Opportunity: Pragyan Ojha

He cited Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda as instances of players who seize opportunities by scoring a century against England and Ireland, respectively.

“That is the truth. These players need to realise that they are playing for India and just grab their chances. Look at what Suryakumar Yadav has done … He’s getting hundreds. Deepak Hooda got a hundred. If you are scoring hundreds, in any format and at any level, then people start noticing you.

In the Ranji Trophy the level of competition has gone up. People are not talking about who has scored a hundred, but who has scored double-hundreds and triple-hundreds. When the competition goes so high you have to raise your game too and go higher,” he said.

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