'We need to stop...': Yuvraj Singh recalls Sachin Tendulkar's advice after SA loss during CWC '11

Rohit Sharma-led India is gearing up for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, which gets underway on October 5 in Ahmedabad. India will look to win thecoveted trophy for the third time, second as hosts.In the 2011 ODI World Cup, MS Dhoni-led Men in Blue had a memorable campaign as they beat Sri Lanka, who were also the co-hosts, in the final to win by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 2. However, it wasn't a smooth run for Team India, who didn't win it easy versus the Netherlands and Ireland and lost to South Africa in the group stage.

India started the tournament by beating Bangladesh convincingly in the tournament-opener, played a tied game versus England, won against Ireland and the Netherlands but not comprehensively, and lost a close game versus South Africa before getting on a winning streak to eventually lift the coveted title. Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who ended as the Player-of-the-Series with 362 runs and 15 wickets, recalled Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's adviceafter Dhoni & Co.'s three-wicket loss to the Proteas, in Nagpur, defending 297.

As quoted by Hindustan Times, Yuvrajsaid, "Now, distraction is a bit more because that time there was no social media. There was distraction with media and people. We were trying to focus on the game, and in the world cup, we had lost to South Africa - a game we should have won. The media started to go berserk. Sachin sat down with the team and said, 'we need to stop watching television, stop reading the papers. Use our headphones when we are going through crowds in airports. Just focus on the world cup'. The team agreed, we just followed that and it really worked."

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He added, "Because there's anyway so much pressure. Problem with India is that, people think only the Indian team will win. It's a big World Cup, there are so many good teams out there, and we got to be really focussed on your tasks at hand."

Tendulkar's words did the trick for India, who went on to beat West Indies, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, respectively, to lift the title after the SA setback. He had a stellar run in the 2011 edition, ending with 482 runs with two centuries (second-most overall). It was his last appearance in the ODI World Cup, his sixth overall, where India returned with the title after 28 years. Will Rohit & Co. replicate Dhoni-led India's 2011 heroics? Only time will tell...

India begin their campaign versus Australia on October 8 in Chennai.

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