Gautam Gambhir reveals senior players told him to win 2011 WC to 'take conversation away from 1983'

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir revealed some of the senior players in the Indian team told him ahead of the semi-final of the 2011 ODI World Cup that they needed to win the tournament to take the "conversation away from 1983". Gambhir was part of India's title-winning squad in the 2011 World Cup and played an instrumental role in the team's memorable triumph.

India had won their maiden cricket World Cup under the legendary Kapil Dev in 1983 before clinching their second title under MS Dhoni in 2011. India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-octane semi-final before locking horns with Sri Lanka in the final at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Ahead of the semi-final against Pakistan, some of the senior members of the Indian team had a conversation with Gambhir stressing on why they wanted to win the tournament. Gambhir revealed he was not interested in 'finishing anyone' while referring to the contributions of the 1983 World Cup-winning team and only wanted to bring glory to the nation.

"Two or three senior players came to me and said 'we need to win this tournament because we have to take the conversation away from 1983. We have to finish their thing off', Gambhir said on Indian Express's Idea Exchange.

"I said I haven’t come here to finish anyone. I haven’t come here to shorten someone’s line. I want to win this to extend our line. If the media is giving them jobs from 1983 to 2011, that’s the media’s problem, not ours.

"We need to win the World Cup because we want this country to be happy. That is something which needs to change in the future," added the former India opener.

Gambhir had played a key role in helping India win the final against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup with a brilliant knock of 97 runs. Chasing a tricky target of 275 runs, India found themselves reeling at 31/2 inside the first seven overs after losing openers Virender Sehwag (18) and Sachin Tendulkar (0) cheaply before Gambhir steadied the ship with Virat Kohli.

A young Kohli scored crucial 35 runs off 49 balls to add an 83-run stand for the third wicket with Gambhir before he was sent back by Tillakaratne Dilshan. Gambhir then joined forces with captain MS Dhoni in the middle to take India closer to victory with a gritty 97 off 122 balls.

Dhoni finished off the chase in style with an iconic six and remained unbeaten on 91 off 79 deliveries. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his captain's knock but Gambhir was the top-scorer for India in the final with his 97.