EXCLUSIVE
The idea was to do the interview differently. I had already recorded a number of shows specifically looking at the World Cup, and hence wanted to speak to Gautam about the 2011 experience. How did he handle pressure? Scoring the 97 against Sri Lanka in the final, when India had lost Sachin and Sehwag – how difficult was it for him? Does he ever feel that the 97 has not been celebrated enough in the annals of our cricket? How did Gautam prepare himself for the big games, and did he ever feel insecure? What did he do after winning the World Cup – is there anything that he hasn’t shared yet?
With Gautam, what you get is straight talk. And that’s the best part about speaking to him. This interview too was no different. The 30 minutes literally flew by, and it was an intense conversation with an intense man.
Excerpts:
Boria: Do you ever look back and feel that if you got that elusive hundred and not been dismissed for 97, it would have been better? Does missing the 100 ever bother you?
Gambhir: It just doesn’t matter if I got the hundred or not. All that matters is if India won the World Cup. We don’t play an individual sport. It is a team sport, and individual achievements are only important if they are of use to the team. This innings is far more important to me because it helped India win the final. I will tell you one thing straight. If I had got out for a low score and India won, I would be as happy. But If I got the 100 and India lost, the 100 would be of no value whatsoever to me. We are far too obsessed with individual milestones in India, and in doing so, the focus on occasions moves from the larger goal. The bigger picture of how your team has done is lost on occasions. That’s the only thing that is important in team sport.
Boria: But do you ever feel that we haven’t celebrated the 97 enough. And I am asking you this because it was a match-winning effort. It laid the foundation for MS Dhoni to come and finish off the game. Your partnerships with Virat and then Dhoni were key to India winning. Do you ever feel we don’t celebrate the innings enough?
Gambhir: Do we celebrate Yuvraj Singh enough for what he did in the 2011 World Cup with all the health concerns he had? Do we celebrate Zaheer Khan’s opening spell enough? To start off a World Cup final with four maiden overs is incredible, and yet he isn’t given enough credit. Do we celebrate Sachin Tendulkar’s efforts enough? Yes, we celebrate him and the win, but how many remember he was the highest scorer in the World Cup with two hundreds to his name? Do we celebrate Harbhajan Singh’s spell against Pakistan in Mohali, or Suresh Raina’s innings against Australia in Ahmedabad and Pakistan in Mohali? Both these innings were match-winning efforts.
While we celebrate MS Dhoni’s innings in the final, we should celebrate these other efforts as much. No one innings could win India the trophy. It was a collective effort, and should be celebrated as such. It is because of social media that we don’t do it. Social media is biased and we all know that. But social media doesn’t make it the truth. There is always a tendency on social media to celebrate individuals more than the team. In doing so, what happens is we don’t celebrate key performers who had as much a part to play. And that’s an issue for sure. All I will say is we should celebrate the entire team. While we celebrate Dhoni, we should also celebrate the others who all played very important roles in the Indian win.
Boria: What about pressure? Every player you speak to will speak about the pressure of an India-Pakistan game for example. You played the World Cup final on home soil. And in 2007, you played a [World T20] final against Pakistan. You scored 75 in 2007, and 97 in 2011. Clearly, you managed to deal with these high-pressure games really well. What is it that you did?
Gambhir: Playing the World Cup final was not pressure. I had runs behind me, I was doing something I liked doing, and I was confident of doing well. In fact, even when we lost two wickets, I did not have a single negative thought. All I was focussed on was playing the next ball. That’s what it is about. Just play the next ball and don’t look too far ahead. If you do, that’s when you build pressure on yourself. If you just play the next ball, you know you are in control. And that’s what I did in the 2011 final. Honestly, I did not feel pressure and nor did I have negative thoughts when we were two down.
In fact, the only time I felt pressure was in 2014 when I got three consecutive ducks for KKR [Kolkata Knight Riders] in Dubai as captain. That’s when I felt pressure. I then got one in the fourth innings and was ashamed of my efforts. That was pressure. You feel the pressure when things don’t go well for you. Not when things are right, and you are on a roll. In the fourth match, I asked Manish Pandey to open the innings and batted at No. 3 myself. Manish was scoring, and I did this because I was scared. I have no hesitation in accepting I was insecure and scared. However, Manish was out without scoring and I got out for 1. I told Manish I would never again do this, and decided to take things head on. I was feeling the pressure. I was nervous. But then that’s what mental strength and courage is all about. You need to face up to the toughest challenges. In our next game, I opened the batting and smashed the first ball from Kane Richardson for four. Perhaps the most important four of my IPL career. That’s when things changed again.
Boria: Do you remember how you celebrated? Did you do anything that you haven’t yet shared?
Gambhir: I don’t think people realise that I was on the ground for literally 92 overs of the final. No one else among all the players was out there for that long. First we fielded, and then when we batted, I was out there batting for 41-42 overs of our innings. The truth is, after I got out and went back to the change room, I was exhausted. Drained completely. So while I was massively happy and emotionally invested in the celebrations, physically I was exhausted. We had a team celebration late in the night, and while I went there for a few minutes, I just came to my room and crashed. I did nothing else because I was fatigued. However, when I went home the next day, it was a very proud moment with family. Seeing my mother so happy was very pleasing. It was a very touching celebration at home, and I felt good seeing the smiles on people’s faces.
If you cannot think of winning the World Cup, you should not be part of the World Cup squad: Gautam Gambhir on Backstage with Boria.
Gautam Gambhir, former World Cup-winning India opener, features in the latest episode of the special World Cup and Asia Cup series of Backstage… pic.twitter.com/rlpmQSbefl
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) August 24, 2023
Boria: How important was this win in the context of your career?
Gambhir: The 2011 World Cup win was the most important win of my career. I had missed out on playing the 2007 World Cup, and I still feel it was wrong that I was left out. I still don’t know why I was left out despite doing well, and the 2011 World Cup was the only 50-over World Cup that I played. So I have the unique distinction of winning the only 50-over World Cup that I participated in. In 2007, the T20 format wasn’t the format of choice. Yes, we won, but it was not the format we all excelled at. The 50-over World Cup was different. On home soil, the 2011 World Cup was the tournament that all of India was looking forward to. We had not won a 50-over World Cup for 28 years, and in every sense it was a very special occasion. To be able to do well for my team was a very satisfying thing for me, and will surely rank as one of the highest points in my career.
Boria: What is the difference between charged and over-charged? How do you control your emotions so that you aren’t over-charged. I ask this because a lot of people will say that in the 2003 World Cup final, India lost because we were over-charged. Zaheer Khan conceded 15 runs in the first over, and that’s when the game was lost for India. Sourav Ganguly made a wrong call at the toss, and it all happened because the team was over-charged.
Gambhir: I don’t agree with such an assessment. You are playing a World Cup final. Not a game with a local club team in your locality. The stakes are at their highest. If you aren’t charged, then there is something wrong. We were all charged up for the 2011 World Cup as well. Zaheer Khan bowled a fantastic spell up front, and that’s what helped set the tempo. Each one of us wanted to do well in front of our home fans, and win the tournament. And yes, we were all charged up. When you play high-pressure sport, you have to have the intensity. If you don’t, you can never do well at that level.