Harbhajan Singh Reveals MS Dhoni’s Suggestion During The Pakistan Match In 2011 World Cup
Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni (Image Source: Twitter)
India is going to play their arch-rivals Pakistan in the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup on 28 August 2022. After the loss against them in last year’s T20 World Cup, India will look to win this time around. Now, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh shared a never-heard story from their match against Pakistan during the 2011 World Cup in Mohali, India.
This former off-spinner shared that former India captain, MS Dhoni gave him a suggestion and it worked wonders for him during that match. He also called this match, one of the most memorable ones in his overall career while playing for India.
“’Bhajju pa, aap Vahan se daaloge’ (around the wicket)” – MS Dhoni to Harbhajan Singh
Speaking on a show named, ‘Dil se India’ on Star Sports, Harbhajan shared this story from that exciting encounter in Mohali. While chasing the target, Pakistan batters were batting magnificently. During the water break, MS Dhoni suggested Harbhajan for continuing to bowl from the round of the wicket to them. He said: “It was one of those games where I felt I was getting a bit numb. I had bowled five overs and conceded around 26-27 runs. It was a water break, and Dhoni told me, ‘Bhajju pa, aap Vahan se daaloge’ (around the wicket). Kamran was playing well, and so was Misbah. And they were scoring runs and the partnership was getting dangerous,”
Then, Harbhajan added that he came to bowl and did the exact thing as per Dhoni’s instruction. However, he took the wicket of Kamran Akmal with the very first ball of that over. “So I came to bowl, I remembered god. I just prayed for a win. And god did listen to me. On the very first ball, I got the wicket of Kamran Akmal as I bowled around the wicket. He completely missed the ball.” he concluded.
Speaking of the match, while batting first, India put up a competitive score of 260 runs by losing nine wickets. Sachin Tendulkar was the highest scorer in that semi-final with 85 runs. In reply, Pakistan batters showed some fight. But, their middle-order batters collapsed as they got bundled out for 231 runs. With this win, India qualified for the finals. Eventually, they ended up as the winner by defeating Sri Lanka in the final of the 2011 World Cup.
