India great Sachin Tendulkar revealed how he had inspired his side to turn their focus from their hunger pangs to a vital World Cup semifinal clash against Pakistan during the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
The 2011 World Cup semifinal clash between the arch-rivals was much more than the battle between bat and ball. Among the thousands in the PCA Stadium in Mohali were the Prime Ministers of both countries, who were in attendance to witness the two teams clash for the first time in India in ODIs since 2007.
Speaking on the occasion of his 50th birthday, Tendulkar recalled the incredible build-up to the match.
“It wasn’t exactly a lighter moment, because it was the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2011,” Tendulkar said. “India was playing Pakistan. Both the Prime Ministers were going to be there. So it was very, very tight security.
“We got to the ground and the normal routine is, you know, once you get to the ground, you have pre-match lunch and then you go out on the field for your warm-up sessions and then slowly, slowly get in the game,” Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar also added how some players were not able to focus on the game due to not having lunch on time.
“Because of security reasons, you know, our food hadn’t reached the ground, and the whole team was agitated. The whole team was like, ‘Lunch kidhar hai? Where is our lunch? You know, this is the World Cup semi-finals, we need to prepare ourselves’, and all that.
“And that continued for a while. Even when we went on the field for our warm-up session, there were still a couple of guys thinking about it,” Tendulkar said.
Seeing the situation, Tendulkar took charge and made an inspirational speech.
“So we were in a huddle, and that’s when I spoke briefly. I said, ‘The world is not bothered whether we’ve had our pre-match lunch or not. This is the World Cup semifinals.
“If you are so hungry, show the world how many runs you can score or how many wickets you can pick. That is what they’re interested in. Nobody is interested in knowing whether you’ve had your lunch or breakfast. None. This is the World Cup semifinals. Go out there and express yourselves’.”
The words of encouragement certainly worked as India came out all guns blazing with the bat and ball. Tendulkar himself was the first to lead by example as he stroked a patient 85 off 111 balls and was the top-scorer on the day.
The lower-order support propelled India to 260/9, a target that proved to be 29 runs too many for Pakistan. Despite a solid start, the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and in the end, Misbah-ul-Haq had too much to do while hanging with the tail.
Tendulkar deservedly took home the Player of the Match award for his brilliant knock. Three days later, he achieved the lifelong dream of winning the World Cup; the occasion was made all the more sweeter by playing the final in front of his home crowd at Wankhede in Mumbai.
