Playing It My Way: My Autobiography (48 page)

Bhajji’s assault forced Graeme Smith to push his fielders back and so I walked up to Bhajji again to say that he could stop trying to hit every ball now; he could just tap the ball and run. Our partnership yielded 76 very valuable runs and when Bhajji was finally out for 40 with the score on 323 we were within striking distance of the South African total. Eventually we managed a two-run lead.

Our bowlers started well in the South African second innings and Bhajji was again simply brilliant. He snapped out the first four South African wickets with just 64 on the board and when Zaheer picked up AB de Villiers with the score on 98, we started to believe a series win was possible. Ashwell Prince got out with the score on 130 and we needed just one more wicket to get into the tail. Instead, Kallis and Mark Boucher put together a match-saving partnership. Kallis played a superb innings despite nursing a rib injury and his second hundred of the match took the game and also the series beyond us. We were left to bat out the last day for a draw, which we did fairly comfortably.

Looking back, this was our best chance to win a series in South Africa. With half the side out for 98, all we needed was one final burst to roll over the opposition, but instead we let South Africa off the hook. Bhajji took seven wickets, but unfortunately the fast bowlers weren’t quite so successful at the other end. In normal circumstances, a 1–1 series result in South Africa would be considered a really good performance, but this was clearly a contest we should have won.

The Test series was followed by a one-day series, which in effect would start our preparations for the 2011 World Cup. Annoyingly, I injured my hamstring right at the start of the series and was forced to return to India. Before leaving, I asked every member of the squad to make a pledge. I told my team-mates that with the World Cup in the subcontinent approaching, which was one of the most significant competitions of our lives, it was important for everybody to sacrifice something ahead of the tournament. My suggestion was to lose 3 kilos each and become a fitter side in the process.

I kept my promise and in fact lost 3.8 kilos. Some of my team-mates did so as well. To do this I had to watch my diet and was on salads after returning to Mumbai. I underwent a rigorous rehabilitation programme on my hamstring under the watchful eyes of Patrick Farhat, physio of the Mumbai Indians, and also hit the gym regularly to strengthen my upper body. The World Cup was promising to be the biggest tournament of my life. It was the one title that had eluded me and there was a good chance it would be my last crack at becoming a world champion – and on home soil too.

1st Test. Chittagong. 17–21 January 2010

India 243 (
SR Tendulkar 105*
, V Sehwag 52; S Al-Hasan 5–62, S Hossain 5–71) and 413–8 dec (G Gambhir 116, VVS Laxman 69*, A Mishra 50,
SR Tendulkar 16
; Mahmudullah 2–52)

Bangladesh 242 (Mahmudullah 69, M Rahim 44; Z Khan 3–54, A Mishra 3–66) and 301 (M Rahim 101, T Iqbal 52; A Mishra 4–92, I Sharma 3–48)

India won by 113 runs

2nd Test. Dhaka. 24–27 January 2010

Bangladesh 233 (Mahmudullah 96*, M Ashraful 39; I Sharma 4–66, Z Khan 3–62) and 312 (T Iqbal 151, J Siddique 55, S Hossain 40; Z Khan 7–87)

India 544–8 dec (
SR Tendulkar 143
, R Dravid 111, MS Dhoni 89, G Gambhir 68, V Sehwag 56; S Islam 3–86) and 2–0

India won by 10 wickets

Indian won the series 2–0

1st Test. Nagpur. 6–9 February 2010

South Africa 558–6 dec (HM Amla 253*, JH Kallis 173, AB de Villiers 53; Z Khan 3–96)

India 233 (V Sehwag 109, S Badrinath 56,
SR Tendulkar 7
; DW Steyn 7–51) and 319 (f/o) (
SR Tendulkar 100
, H Singh 39; DW Steyn 3–57, PL Harris 3–76)

South Africa won by an innings and 6 runs

2nd Test. Kolkata. 14–18 February 2010

South Africa 296 (HM Amla 114, AN Petersen 100; Z Khan 4–90, H Singh 3–64) and 290 (HM Amla 123*; H Singh 5–59, A Mishra 3–78)

India 643–6 dec (V Sehwag 165, VVS Laxman 143*, MS Dhoni 132*,
SR Tendulkar 106
; M Morkel 2–115)

India won by an innings and 57 runs

Series drawn 0–0

1st Test. Mohali. 1–5 October 2010

Australia 428 (SR Watson 126, TD Paine 92, RT Ponting 71, MG Johnson 47; Z Khan 5-94, H Singh 3–114) and 192 (SR Watson 56; I Sharma 3–34, Z Khan 3–43)

India 405 (
SR Tendulkar 98
, SK Raina 86, R Dravid 77, V Sehwag 59; MG Johnson 5–64) and 216–9 (VVS Laxman 73*,
SR Tendulkar 38
; BW Hilfenhaus 4–57, DE Bollinger 3–32)

India won by 1 wicket

2nd Test. Bangalore. 9–13 October 2010

Australia 478 (MJ North 128, RT Ponting 77, TD Paine 59, SR Watson 57; H Singh 4–148, PP Ojha 3–120) and 223 (RT Ponting 72; Z Khan 3–41, PP Ojha 3–57)

India 495 (
SR Tendulkar 214
, M Vijay 139; MG Johnson 3–105) and 207–3 (CA Pujara 72,
SR Tendulkar 53*
)

India won by 7 wickets

India won the series 2–0

1st Test. Ahmedabad. 4–8 November 2010

India 487 (V Sehwag 173, R Dravid 104, H Singh 69,
SR Tendulkar 40
; DL Vettori 4–118, JS Patel 3–135) and 266 (H Singh 115, VVS Laxman 91,
SR Tendulkar 12
; CS Martin 5–63, LRPL Taylor 2–4)

New Zealand 459 (KS Williamson 131, JD Ryder 103, BB McCullum 65, LRPL Taylor 56; PP Ojha 4–107) and 22–1

Match drawn

2nd Test. Hyderabad (Deccan). 12–16 November 2010

New Zealand 350 (TG McIntosh 102, MJ Guptill 85, JD Ryder 70; Z Khan 4–69, H Singh 4–76) and 448–8 dec (BB McCullum 225, KS Williamson 69, TG McIntosh 49; S Sreesanth 3–121)

India 472 (H Singh 111*, V Sehwag 96, VVS Laxman 74, G Gambhir 54, R Dravid 45,
SR Tendulkar 13
; DL Vettori 5–135, TG Southee 3–119) and 68–0 (V Sehwag 54*)

Match drawn

3rd Test. Nagpur. 20–23 November 2010

New Zealand 193 (JD Ryder 59, BB McCullum 40; I Sharma 4–43, PP Ojha 3–57) and 175 (TG Southee 31; I Sharma 3–15, H Singh 3–56)

India 566–8 dec (R Dravid 191, MS Dhoni 98, G Gambhir 78, V Sehwag 74,
SR Tendulkar 61
; DL Vettori 3–178, CS Martin 2–82)

India won by an innings and 198 runs

India won the series 1–0

1st Test. Centurion. 16–20 December 2010

India 136 (
SR Tendulkar 36
; M Morkel 5–20, DW Steyn 3–34) and 459 (
SR Tendulkar 111*
, MS Dhoni 90, G Gambhir 80, V Sehwag 63; DW Steyn 4–105)

South Africa 620–4 dec (JH Kallis 201*, HM Amla 140, AB de Villiers 129, AN Petersen 77, GC Smith 62; I Sharma 2–120)

South Africa won by an innings and 25 runs

2nd Test. Durban. 26–29 December 2010

India 205 (VVS Laxman 38,
SR Tendulkar 13
; DW Steyn 6–50, LL Tsotsobe 2–40, M Morkel 2–68) and 228 (VVS Laxman 96,
SR Tendulkar 6
; LL Tsotsobe 3–43, M Morkel 3–47, DW Steyn 2–60)

South Africa 131 (HM Amla 33; H Singh 4–10, Z Khan 3–36) and 215 (AG Prince 39*; S Sreesanth 3–45, Z Khan 3–57, H Singh 2–70)

India won by 87 runs

3rd Test. Cape Town. 2–6 January 2011

South Africa 362 (JH Kallis 161, HM Amla 59, AG Prince 47; S Sreesanth 5–114, Z Khan 3–89) and 341 (JH Kallis 109*, MV Boucher 55; H Singh 7–120)

India 364 (
SR Tendulkar 146
, G Gambhir 93; DW Steyn 5–75) and 166–3 (G Gambhir 64,
SR Tendulkar 14*
)

Match drawn

Series drawn 1–1

The 2011 World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and we launched our campaign against Bangladesh in the very first game of the competition on 19 February in Dhaka. As we knew only too well, having lost to them in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, Bangladesh can be a dangerous one-day side and at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur they had raucous crowd support.

The general excitement was the first thing that struck us when we arrived in Bangladesh. Every time we went for practice there were close to 30,000 people outside the ground waiting to catch a glimpse of the cricketers. Most of them didn’t have tickets for the game, but they were happy just to be there singing, dancing and enjoying the moment. The passionate and enthusiastic Dhaka crowd undoubtedly added a unique dimension to the tournament.

We were feeling confident after winning both of our warm-up games against Australia and New Zealand in Chennai and we all knew this was our best chance to win cricket’s ultimate prize. The whole country was behind the team during the competition – in fact, for a month and a half it seemed that all that mattered in India was how we fared in the World Cup. However, we needed to remain calm, and Gary, Paddy Upton, Mike Horn – the well-known explorer who was with us for most of the World Cup and shared stories of his adventures – and the support staff did a wonderful job of keeping our minds on the task at hand.

In Dhaka I invited Yuvraj Singh to my room to have dinner. I have always enjoyed a special friendship with Yuvi and believed that he had a key role to play in the tournament. Yuvi was a little down at the time, as things had not been going well for him, so I encouraged him to set some targets and concentrate on meeting them. We really needed a fully focused Yuvraj and I am delighted to say that’s what we got from him all the way through the tournament.

It is a priceless moment in a cricketer’s career when he lines up for the national anthem at the start of a multi-nation competition. Right through my career, listening to the anthem while standing alongside my team-mates has given me goosebumps. As they played the ‘Jana Gana Mana’ at Mirpur, none of us could hold back our emotions. We knew that for the millions of Indians supporting us, what we were playing was not just a game but a passion.

We won the toss and Virender Sehwag and I stepped out to start our campaign. Viru began in style, hitting the very first ball for a four, and we were off. The early nerves disappeared in no time and we started to enjoy ourselves. We set up a good foundation, scoring at a fair clip, before I was run out for 28 and then Gautam Gambhir for 39. Viru was sublime in his innings of 175 and Virat Kohli contributed a superbly orchestrated century to help take us to 370–4. In the end we won the match comfortably by 87 runs. The 2007 defeat had been avenged and we were off to the start we had hoped for.

Our next match was against England in Bangalore on 27 February and, as it was our first match at home, the excitement was off the scale.

Something a little odd happened just hours before the England match. In the tournament I was using a favourite bat of mine, the one I had used the previous season, when I was the ICC Cricketer of the Year. Though it was showing its age, I had not discarded it. Rather, I had repaired it time and again and had even sent it to the bat manufacturers for restoration. There was a kind of emotional bond with this bat and every time I couriered it to the manufacturers I felt nervous and prayed that it would not get lost in transit. In the dressing room, with just a few hours left until the match, for some reason I started to knock in a brand-new bat and work on it in my usual way to get the weight exactly right. I even remember telling myself that I was being foolish and wasting my time, because there was no way I would be using a new bat and I would be better off concentrating on the game.

We won the toss at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and opted to bat first. I used my trusted old bat and managed to hit a few boundaries. However, most of them were deflections behind the wicket and it was only when I tried to play a square cut off Ajmal Shahzad that I realized something was wrong. It was a full-blooded stroke but the ball did not travel to the fielder as fast as it should have. It was time to retire the old bat and call for the new one I had been knocking in. While I felt a little sad sending the old bat back to the pavilion, I did score a century with the new one – though I ended up breaking it in the quarter-final against Australia.

I have always enjoyed playing in Bangalore. I began cautiously and with Sehwag in full flow I was content to anchor the innings, but I decided to push the accelerator when Viru was dismissed for 35. Graeme Swann was England’s leading spinner and I hit him for consecutive sixes at the start of his second spell, turning the momentum in our favour. I was finally out for 120 and, with fifties from Gambhir and Yuvi, we made 338 in our fifty overs.

England were brilliant in reply and also benefited from the very heavy dew, which meant our spinners had been rendered ineffective. In conditions of heavy dew the ball just skids on to the bat, something England were to encounter in their match against Ireland at Bangalore. (The Irish, despite losing five wickets cheaply, managed to get home, with Kevin O’Brien scoring a very good hundred.) Against us, Andrew Strauss played one of his best ever one-day innings, making 158, and he almost took England to victory before Zaheer pulled it back for us with a superb second spell, taking three wickets for just 11. The match finally ended in a tie, and it was a terrific advertisement for the game. A total of 676 runs were scored and still the two sides could not be separated. The fans loved the contest and the World Cup had captured the imagination of the cricket-playing world.

It was immediately after this match that talk of us winning the title started in the digital world and slowly the messages started reaching us in the dressing room. These discussions were based not just on our on-field performances. Someone had pointed out that every time Dhoni had been involved in a tie in a multi-nation competition, he had ended up winning the title. This had been the case in the World Twenty20 in 2007 (the India–Pakistan game was tied before India won in a bowl-out), in the IPL and even in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 that Dhoni had won. This World Cup, it was argued, would be no different.