One of the most important partnerships in the history of Indian cricket happened in 2011 and although fans talk about the individual innings of both the players, very few talk about the 100+ stand that they had together that led the way for India to win the World Cup in 2011. Without this partnership India would bir have won the Cup and this partnership should be talked about more.
So, without wasting too much time let’s talk about this Partnership and the context in which it came in
Sri Lanka posted a great Score
During the first innings of the final it was Sri Lanka who were batting first and led by an amazing hundred by Mahela Jayawardene who took Sri Lanka to a big score of 274 which meant India needed 275 to win the World Cup and in those times 275 was a big score to chase. And India needed a good opening stand but what happened was exactly the opposite of that and the score set by Sri Lanka looked like a mountain.
Also Read | Best innings of MS Dhoni and Interesting facts about MS Dhoni
India lose Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag early
The start of the Indian innings got off to the worst possible start as India lost both Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar for just 31 runs and it looked very difficult for India from that point on. And India needed a big partnership to rescue them and luckily that is what Gautam Gambhir provided with Virat Kohli who made 35 runs in the match and India got past 100 and then they lost Virat Kohli to a brilliant catch by Dilshan.
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The Partnership that Won India the match
Then when the third wicket fell it was Yuvraj Singh who was supposed to come out but the captain MS decided that it was he who will come out to bat to counter the spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and his plan worked perfectly. Both Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni started building the innings and they hit lots of fours and sixes in their partnership and they were scoring at a good rate and both of them got to their half centuries. India were cruising and Gautam Gambhir was close to his 100 and then at 97 he got out and it was Heartbreaking for all fans and this partnership of 109 runs was instrumental in winning India the World Cup.
Also Read: Best Gautam Gambhir Innings and Best Performances of Gautam Gambhir in ODI Cricket
