That history was made on 2 April 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium when India won the ICC World Cup, is a well-known and well-documented fact.
MS Dhoni hit the winning run, Gautam Gambhir won ‘Man of the Match’ and Yuvraj Singh was ‘Man of the Series’ – are all important details of the campaign that we all know by now.
But, what happened after the team left the stadium? Where did they party? Who organised the party and who enjoyed themselves the most? Well, on a special broadcast on Star Sports’ ‘Cricket Connected’, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh both dished some details.
“I had a finger injury in the semi-final so I was the one who organised the party. Everyone else was playing the match so Sachin told me, ‘You just try to organise’,” says Nehra, who had been ruled out of the final due to an injury. Having sat out the game, the organising responsibilities fell on him.
“I was the first one who went… it was a small suite or a banquet hall. Everyone else went to their rooms as they had played the game and had to freshen up. It took me a good half an hour to 40 minutes and then I was sending messages to everyone, ‘everything is ready, come’,” he added.
Harbhajan Singh was part of the playing XI on that big night in Mumbai and conceded 50 runs in his 10 overs, taking the vital wicket of Tilakratne Dilshan. But the memory of seeing another player celebrate that night, is one he holds dear. Singh said,
“I had never seen Sachin Tendulkar do anything but bat. But I saw him dancing that night. He danced with Anjali Bhabhi on the song ‘darling aaron se aakhen chaar karne do’. It was so good to see them dancing together, enjoying the moment. This was his dream as well, lifting the cup.”Harbhajan Singh
(‘Cricket Connected’ is aired at 7 PM and 9 PM every Saturday on Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.)
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