After 12 years of playing for his country, 2011 World Cup winner Virender Sehwag has some interesting advice for the Indian team ahead of the highly competitive ICC ODI World Cup. The Indian team defeated Australia 2-1 in the three-match ODI series before the kick-off of the 2023 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma’s team will be full of confidence after performing well in the 2023 Asia Cup and ODI series against Australia. India will play their first pre-tournament warm-up match against England on September 30, followed by a match against the Netherlands before a crucial first match against mighty Australia in the World Cup opener in Chennai on October 8.
Talking to Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag reveals that the Indian team’s approach in 2011 was to block out outside noise for the ODI World Cup Did. He said all players were advised not to read newspapers during the event and to conduct more team-building sessions during the event.
“When we had a team meeting, we decided not to read the newspaper or listen to outside noise. We will not do anything that increases the pressure. .It became a rule and almost everyone actually followed it.
“We tried to stay together, have fun and do some team building exercises because in a long tournament like this it’s easy to get separated.Gary Kirsten and MS Dhoni has made it possible for us to be together,” Sehwag said.
The former India opener claimed that during the World Cup, the team was more focused on talking about cricket than what was happening outside. He explained that MS Dhoni, the captain of his team in India, was more focused on the process than the results of the tournament.
“We met before and after matches, and we mainly talked about cricket. Cricket strategy used to be a dinner topic. I always suggested That was an important reason for our World Cup victory. Of course there was pressure. When we were on the plane, the CISF staff, at the hotel, the managers, the waiters…everyone was always saying, “We should win the World Cup.”
“But as MS Dhoni said: “Focus on the process.” Our process was good, that’s why we won,” Sehwag quipped.
The Indian team defeated Sri Lanka in the final and won the title for the second time. The Men in Blue won the championship by his six wickets.
It is pertinent to mention that with this victory led by MS Dhoni in the 2011 World Cup final, the Asian giants became the first country to lift the World Cup trophy at home. The Men in Blue are looking to repeat their 2011 performance ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
