Former India batter Suresh Raina was recently asked about MS Dhoni‘s 2011 World Cup-winning six. During a recent interaction, the host of the podcast, Shubhankar Mishra, quizzed Raina about the same while pointing out that a few members of the squad, including Gautam Gambhir, have made various claims about Dhoni’s six. For the unversed, Gambhir, who is current head coach of the Indian team, remarked “Ek chakke ne World Cup nahi jitaya (India didn’t win the World Cup because of one six).”
Reacting to the “chakke ne jitaya ya nahi jitaya” statement, Raina said everyone knows India won the World Cup after Dhoni’s six.
“After winning the World Cup, we, as fans, have heard about a rivalry within the team. A lot of statements came. It continues till today. I have seen people ask you in interviews that ek chakke ne jitya ya nahi jitya,” the host asked.
Raina replied, saying: “Chakke ne to jitaya hai, sab ko pata hai woh (We won after that six, everyone knows that)”
The southpaw attributed India’s World Cup triumph to every single person involved in the journey, including the support staff and fans.
“The Indian team won the World Cup, irrespective of what anyone says. All the players know that this World Cup was for Team India, for the ones who prayed for us, and for Sachin paaji, who has played six World Cups but not won even one. It was for our coach, the support staff, Manek Kaka (masseur), trainers, doctors, captain, vice-captain, and for our childhood coaches,” said Raina.
However, Raina suggested that Yuvraj Singh‘s contributions throughout the tournament cannot be overlooked, adding that the ‘Player of the Tournament’ was instrumental in all three departments.
“The whole tournament was good, but I think we won the tournament because of Yuvraj Singh. The way he batted, the way he fielded and the way he gave a lot of breakthroughs. Later, we came to know that he had cancer. Hats off to the guy; he became the Man of the Tournament as well,” he added.
