The emotions and passion surrounding the Indian men’s team victorious 2011 World Cup campaign shine bright; even today, after almost 9-years. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who recently celebrated his 47th birthday, sure left his mark as one of the key architects behind that iconic win. With a staggering tally of 482 runs across the tournament- second only behind Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan; the legendary opener had realized the golden dream that Kapil Dev’s side had lived nearly 28-years back.
Having relived his heartbreak from the ’92 World Cup, not once, twice- but thrice; fans finally discovered their solace at congratulating a fourth-time fortunate Tendulkar.
His teammate from that unforgettable campaign, Suresh Raina, goes a notch further, and even credits him as the team’s ‘second-coach’. In a recent chat with the Khaleej Times, Raina revealed that Sachin and his composure probably played the biggest role behind the team’s success.
“With Sachin, it’s always about his calmness. It was because of Sachin that we won the World Cup,” Raina opined. “He was the guy who made everyone in the team believe that we can do that, He was like the second coach in the team,” the CSK vice-captain concluded.
One doesn’t need to look much beyond stats to get understand the magical legacy Tendulkar had scripted with his willow. Although none of his twin league-stage hundreds- against England and South Africa could come in match-winning causes; his gritty couple of innings against Australia and Pakistan in the knockouts helped the team earn its deserved spot in the finals.
Raina’s innings
Raina himself had quite a role to portray in that campaign. In the aforementioned match against Australia, he (34* off 28) and fellow southpaw Yuvraj Singh (57* off 65) carried the team over the line in 261-run chase. His strong batting temperament, in fact, established him as one of the batting-mainstays in the side post Sachin’s retirement. So much so, that he beat the likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, among many others; to reappear in the World Cup team for the 2015 edition in Australia and New Zealand.
