ICC World Cup 2023: 'All That Matters Is If India Won The World Cup:' Gautam Gambhir On Missing Out On Century In 2011 World Cup Final

Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir has said that he has no regrets over missing out on a monumental century in the final of the 2011 World Cup against Sri Lanka.

The former opener had the opportunity to become the very first Indian cricketer to score a century in the final of the World Cup in 2011. So far, only six players – Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Aravinda de Silva, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Mahela Jayawardene – have managed to score a century in the final of the ODI World Cup. Gautam Gambhir had the chance to enter the elite club but he missed his century by just three runs.

He had to walk out to bat in the very first over after Lasith Malinga dismissed Virender Sehwag for a duck. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar did not last long either and departed after scoring only 18. With a young Virat Kohli at the other end, the onus was on Gautam Gambhir to bail the team out of trouble and he did it in style.

He shared an 83-run stand with Kohli before the latter departed for 31. Gautam Gambhir then stitched together a 109-run partnership before departing. He was clean-bowled by Thisara Perera when he danced down the track to play a big shot. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh then took India home.

Gautam Gambhir on missing his century in the World Cup final:

While Gautam Gambhir had the opportunity to create history in the final of the 2011 World Cup, he does not regret missing out on it. In a recent interview with RevSportz, Gautam Gambhir said that winning the World Cup was his only aim.

“It just doesn’t matter if I got the hundred or not. All that matters is if India won the World Cup. We don’t play an individual sport. It is a team sport, and individual achievements are only important if they are of use to the team. This innings is far more important to me because it helped India win the final,” said Gautam Gambhir who was also India’s highest run-scorer in the 2007 T20 World Cup final.

“I will tell you one thing straight. If I had got out for a low score and India won, I would be as happy. But If I got the 100 and India lost, the 100 would be of no value whatsoever to me. We are far too obsessed with individual milestones in India, and in doing so, the focus on occasions moves from the larger goal. The bigger picture of how your team has done is lost on occasions. That’s the only thing that is important in team sport,” he added.