Not MS Dhoni; Yuvraj Singh Reveals The Real Hero Behind India's 2011 WC Triumph
MS Dhoni with the World Cup trophy [ICC]
Recently, former India all-rounder, Yuvraj Singh opened up on the difference between captaincy of Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. Yuvraj made his India debut under the captaincy of Ganguly, and lauded his former captain for showing faith in his abilities.
When Ganguly became the India captain, the team was going through a transition phase, and the then India captain decided to introduce youngsters in the side, and a bunch of talented and hungry cricketers were brought into the Indian setup, including the likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and many more.
Yuvraj snubs MS Dhoni, picks the real hero of 2011 World Cup
Yuvraj also tasted considerable success under the guidance of MS Dhoni, as alongside MSD, he won the T20 World Cup and the 50-over World Cup in 2011. In a recent podcast with Club Prairie Fire YT, Yuvraj talked about the difference between the captaincy style of Ganguly and MS Dhoni, and lauded Ganguly for always believing in youngsters.
"I think I got on the side when Saurav was the captain and he kind of like gave us a lot of confidence in terms of and a lot of chances because we were younger, we were not consistent. Like myself, Sehwag and a couple of other young guys, Bhajji and Zaheer Khan. So he kind of stuck to us for a bit because he knew that these guys could be matched when he's in the future. And then obviously the team went to Rahul for a bit and then to Dhoni."
He also talked about India's triumph at the 2011 World Cup, but surprisingly, he skipped MS Dhoni's contribution in the World Cup win and hailed an underrated star for the victory.
“So I think when the team went to Dhoni, we had a really good coach, Gary Kirsten, who made us believe that we can actually win the World Cup be the number one test side. So it was, and obviously, Dhoni was a good captain as well. Saurav was more of being aggressive and trying to take teams head-on. And what I liked about Dhoni was that MS had already had a plan B. Like if plan A doesn't work, go to plan B” added Yuvraj.
MS Dhoni retired as India's greatest captain
MS Dhoni was first given the captaincy duties during the 2007 T20 World Cup and he instantly made an impact by winning the title for India. He was also instrumental in taking India to the top of the ICC Test rankings, and formed a stable side which reaped rewards.
Moreover, MSD led India to their second-ever 50-over title in 2011, and the captain played a match-winning innings of 91 as India won the World Cup after 28-years. MS Dhoni won his third ICC title in 2013, as India clinched the Champions Trophy by defeating England in the finals.
The champion cricketer announced his retirement from cricket in 2020 on August 15 during the Independence Day.